During the COVID-19 lockdown months, smart meters boosted commercial efficiency of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd, the utility said in a statement. These meters have also proved beneficial to consumers.
The smart meters proved to be extremely beneficial for the company in raising over 3.5 lakh bills based on actual readings instead of provisional ones during the lockdown months of April and May. The smart meters helped in forestalling over 1.5 lakh meter-reading visits per month to customer premises.
Tata Power-DDL supplies electricity to a population of 7 million in North Delhi with a registered customer base of 1.7 million.
The release also noted that Tata Power-DDL has installed 2 lakh smart meters across its consumer segments – domestic, industrial and commercial under its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project with Radio Frequency Canopy network, as per approval granted by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission. For this initiative, Tata Power-DDL is working in partnership with Landis+Gyr and Siemens.
Tata Power-DDL, in the near future, is also planning to provide customized alerts to consumers via SMS on MDI and PF variations.
With the introduction of smart meters, the above segments of consumers are now monitoring their Maximum Demand Indicator (MDI) and Power Factor (PF) through ‘TPDDL Connect Mobile App.’ on almost real time basis (at a gap of 4 hours) and maintaining them in an efficient way while saving on fixed and energy charges. Close monitoring of MDI is also helping them save about 30 per cent on load violation charges beyond their sanctioned load.
Tata Power-DDL, in the near future, is also planning to provide customized alerts to consumers via SMS on MDI and PF variations so that consumers can maintain them on almost real time basis against the current delay of up to 30 days (billing period) to reduce the energy charges.
Tata Power-DDL’s smart meter drive is in tune with the Ministry of Power’s vision of replacing existing 25 crore meters with smart meters across states and union territories. Tata Power-DDL is also working with more than 20 state distribution companies towards the vision of making them smart, resilient and financially viable through technology driven initiatives, the company release said.
Featured photograph shows a 3-phase smart energy meter manufactured by Landis+Gyr. (Photo: Tata Power-DDL)
