All Bengaluru Houses Are Estimated To Have Smart Electricity Metres During March 2025
Update: 2022-01-03 11:39 IST
All Bengaluru Houses Are Estimated To Have Smart Electricity Metres During March 2025
According to sources, if things come up in the right way as planned by the BESCOM, by March 2025, every home in Bengaluru with an electrical service will have a smart metre. When it comes to smart electricity metre, it means that it can perform a lot more and better than a regular electricity metre without any of the drawbacks.
Prepaid metres are another feature that may be filled up just like prepaid cell phone subscriptions. Customers can only pay for the electricity that they intend to use. They will be able to see how much electricity they're using or wasting as a result of this.
As per a senior engineer in Bescom's east division, they can properly restrict their consumption. While another Bescom engineer added that smart metres will not only help enhance efficiency, but they will also help reduce losses. Designers may monitor the status and record the metre readings remotely due to two communication. Researchers can also restore or unplug power from distance.
Citizens may also use the app to monitor power disruptions in their area and handle control of their home appliances by simply switching them on or off. The smart metres will aid Bescom in tracking electricity usage trends and reducing power losses, particularly those caused by peak-hour consumption.
Prepaid metres will also alleviate Bescom's concerns regarding defaulters. Thousands of individual customers owe the agency crores of rupees in unpaid bills, which will take both money and time to recoup. Prepaid metres, on the other hand, will only be required for government buildings, not for ordinary residences.
Bescom decided to install smart metres across Bengaluru after the success of a pilot project in the Chandapura subdivision in South Bengaluru. In Chandapura, the agency has placed 1,200 smart metres. The ministry of power then issued a directive requiring smart metres to be placed in all government buildings as soon as possible.
All government buildings, commercial businesses, industries, and related institutions will be covered in the first phase, that has a December 2023 deadline. According to the senior Bescom engineer, the second phase, which will be completed by March 2025, will cover all residential structures. Bescom will submit the proposal to the Energy Department soon, and if it is approved, it will be implemented.
Meanwhile, as per preliminary estimates, the project will cost Rs 4,900 crore. Bescom, on the other hand, will take on the project under the Operating Expense (OPEX) model, which requires no upfront expenditure. The contractor will make the investment, while Bescom will just pay a monthly rent for the next ten years. Grants of up to $15 million are planned from the Energy Department.