Smart meters to be installed for 27.86L services in first phase

Vijayawada: Special Chief Secretary (Energy) K Vijayanand has said the energy department would install smart power meters in the State as part of the national policy being implemented across the country and the first phase of installation will be completed by the end of 2023.

The tenders process is on for installation of smart meters to industries, commercial consumers and government offices, he said.

He said that the entire process of installing smart meters would be completed in a transparent manner in one year. Addressing a media conference on Monday at Vidyut Soudha, Vijayanand said the energy department has supported the proposal of DISCOMS for installation of smart meters for the industries, commercial consumers and government offices.

He said initially smart meters will be installed for 3 lakh feeders, 3.22 lakh government premises, 1.19 lakh industries, 15.47 lakh commercial establishments and 4.72 lakh domestic consumers. He said in the first phase smart meters will be installed for 27.86 lakh services in the State.

He said the State has total 1.88 crore power services. He informed that smart meters will be installed to only 4.72 lakh domestic consumers in district headquarters and the cities covered under Amrut scheme.

The Special Chief Secretary said the Union government would sanction grant of over Rs 5,400 crore if smart meters are installed in the State. He said installation of smart meters is a national policy and not confined to Andhra Pradesh alone. He said Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and Nagaland states have invited the tenders for the installation of smart meters. He said Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya and Manipur States have begun preparations for inviting tenders for installation of smart meters.

He said smart meters will be installed across the country by March 2025 as per the policy of the Central government. He said power losses can be reduced and consumers use the power as per the plan with installation of smart meters. He made it clear that the tenders will be finalised for installation of smart meters as per the guidelines framed by the Union government across the country.

Chairman and Managing Director of APTRANSCO B Sreedhar, JMD HRD APTRANSCO, I Prudhvi Tej, JMD Vigilance/APTRANSCO, B Malla Reddy, APCPDCL CMD J Padmajanardhana Reddy and other officials attended the media conference