Even after years of deliberations, smart meters are not a reality in Bengaluru. Although the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) had announced that 17.5 lakh smart meters will be installed in non-residential buildings by 2023 and 55 lakh smart meters will be installed in residential buildings in the years after that, there has been no progress so far.
Bescom had earlier planned to install the smart meters under the Central Government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). While the proposal submitted by the power utility to the State Cabinet in 2021 for implementation of the scheme is yet to be approved, Bescom had taken approval from Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) for installation of smart meters in government offices and H.S.R. Layout division outside of the scheme.
But in the recent tariff order, KERC pulled the brakes on the project.
KERC Chairman P. Ravikumar explained, “It looks like RDSS is not an option as of now. We would have to spend our own money to install smart meters, and that is not economically viable. Ultimately, the burden will fall on the consumer as this expenditure will be included in the tariff.”
In the last two years, Bescom has replaced over 17 lakh old electro-mechanical meters with new-age digital meters in Bengaluru Metropolitan Area Zone (BMAZ). Mr. Ravikumar said that, with these replacements already having taken place, it would be unnecessary expenditure to replace them with smart meters.
“Each smart meter costs ₹6,000, and it will not add any revenue to escoms. Smart meters are expected to help with reducing power theft, but the loss of revenue is only 10% as of now, and theft is not high in BMAZ region. We could think about identifying places where theft is high and install smart meters there. Other than that, our focus now is on spending money on infrastructure upgradation, like replacement of electric lines which are 30 – 40 years old,” Mr. Ravikumar said.
While Bescom officials did not have a definite answer about why cabinet approval is pending for the RDSS scheme, a source said that even if the cabinet approves, pending dues of Bescom, which is around ₹6,800 crore, will act as a roadblock to the project in the later stages.
What is the future of smart meters in Bengaluru then?
Mr. Ravikumar says that while it will not be a one-shot project, temporary meters provided during construction of buildings will be converted into smart meters when a permanent connection is provided. Pre-paid smart meters, which can be bought by consumers themselves, are also expected to be reality soon.
