Vijayawada, December 27, 2022: Special Chief Secretary, Department of Energy, K. Vijayanand on Tuesday asserted that installation of smart meters to agriculture power connections would be a win-win situation for both the power distribution companies and the farmers.
At a press conference, Mr. Vijayanand said that while the smart meters would make the Discoms more responsible and accountable and provide the farmers the right to question the service providers in case of lapses, it would help the department by generating real-time data management without any human interference.
He said that under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) approved by the Centre to help Discoms improve their operational efficiencies and financial sustainability by providing result-linked financial assistance and strengthen supply infrastructure, it was decided to affix smart meters in every sector in the State by March, 2025.
He said a decision to replace the consumer meters with smart meters to agriculture connections in the first phase was decided only after a pilot project implemented in Srikakulam district showed good results. Two surveys were conducted in Srikakulam, he said, explaining that one was by an independent organisation called Prayas which installed around 100 smart meters and recorded electricity savings of 20%. “Our data, collected from the smart meters installed, showed a 33% reduction in power consumption,” he said.
“At 20%, we would be able to save ₹1,900 crore per year and at 33%, it comes to around ₹3,000 crore, which would drastically reduce the payback period,” he said.
Replying to a query, Mr. Vijayanand said that the approximate cost of an infrared meter was ₹9,600 while the smart meter would cost ₹7,000. “It is only a small difference contrary to misleading reports appearing in a section of the media,” he said.
Mr. Vijayanand said the department was trying to complete the installation of the smart meters by December 2023 so it could benefit to the maximum by the Central grant under RDSS according to the reports published in thehindu.com.
Chairman and Managing Director of AP Transco B. Sreedhar, Chairman and Managing Director of APCPDCL J. Padma Janardhana Reddy and Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy B.A.V. P. Kumara Reddy were also present.
