Industry move towards smart metering solutions

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Govt. of India has made Prepayment Metering compulsory for all Govt. Offices and Govt. building but still it is not being implemented all across the country, only few states has started implementation of prepayment metering. State utilities should follow Govt. of India directives for implementation of prepayment metering systems

ELECRAMA-2016

Q. Can you comment on the journey status of Meter industry over the last five years? How do you foresee the next five years? Do you feel AUTOMATION plays important role in metering Power, Electricity?

Metering industry has grown in last couple of years in providing technology as well as in numbers but at the same time prices are fluctuating and it is going downwards trends. It’s a pleasure to inform you that almost 99% requirements of products and solutions of Indian utilities are designed and developed by the Indian metering industry which is a great achievement. Govt. of India has made Prepayment Metering compulsory for all Govt. Offices and Govt. building but still it is not being implemented all across the country, only few states has started implementation of prepayment metering. State utilities should follow Govt. of India directives for implementation of prepayment metering systems.

Most of the power distribution utilities in India are passing through tough phase due to high T&D losses, which has dragged utilities in to financial crisis situation. Over the last couple of years not much have been done on Automation in power sector that has resulted in to financial crunch. Few utilities has done a good job in last few years to monitor and control the T&D losses which has resulted in to reduction of their T&D losses and are now under control. As a result of this, they are able to provide Reliable and Quality power to their consumers regularly.

I feel still LOT of work needs to be done. I would like also to tell you, Metering is the most pivotal equipment in the entire power distribution chain. Meters not only work as a energy management device but it will be a useful source of information to power distribution utilities to monitor and control DSM / Load forecasting / System break downs / managing peak loads etc. which will help utilities in not only saving revenues but also helps to reduce their capex expenditure. In my opinion meter is a “CASH BOX” for the any distribution utilities. In next five years I can forsee , industry would move towards Smart metering / AMI solution. This can only be achieved if Govt. takes bold decision for implementation of Smart Meters technology without considering the price criteria. Prices would automatically come down with the mass roll out.

Q. What are the major challenges faced by the Meter Industry and your suggestions to combat them? What are the plans by Meter division of IEEMA to resolve these issues?

The main challenges faced by meter industry is not getting payment in time, Penalties imposed by utilities inspite of delayed payment, frequent type testing of products which is adding additional cost impact to the industry, return of defective meters (tampered, burnt, damaged, water logged etc.) without any fault of manufacturer , performance guarantees encashment, purchase policy without considering the field performance during the vendor evaluation etc. Utilities should device a system in which proper weightage should be given to Field performance of the product during the vendor selection and while deciding the contract. In most of the utilities there is no existence of vendor rating criteria which should be followed rigorously by all utilities to get the right product. As IEEMA, we are representing our pain areas to different utilities from time to time but still I feel we have not achieved the desired success and long way to go. In near future we shall again highlight our industries issues to respective utilities so that we could sustain our growth and able to provide our services and support.

Q. Do you think the Government (Central & State) is doing enough for stimulating the demand?

Measurement of generated electricity is very important. Policy makers should device a system that each and every point of electricity distribution shall be monitored by energy Meters. Central and state govt. comes with various schemes but there should be sink between the state utility central govt. schemes. As I mentioned earlier central govt. has launched the scheme of implementation of Prepayment meters at every Govt. connection but it is not being implemented across India. Only few states has started implementation of Prepayment Metering, for e.g. Manipur has done a remarkable achievement in revenue collection by implementation of @ 1.5 Lacs prepayment meters. Other utilities should also follow the implementation of Prepayment meters which will help them significantly to reduce losses.

Q. What do you feel the industry should be doing to help increase the demand and help the customer? What are your expectation from ELECRAMA 2016 for the Industry? How ELECRAMA 2016 will benefit to Industry?

The most important element of the entire power distribution chain is the consumer. Unfortunately proper importance is not given as of now to consumer friendly services. We should devices a system where consumer gets incentive if adopt the Prepayment system so consumer will be aware about the proper use of electricity and he can manage his uses properly within budget.

Its been a pleasure to inform you that industry has already installed SMART MEERING SOLUTIONS which helps utilities in monitoring and controlling the commercial losses. Industry offers meters with various communication technologies e.g. Optical , RS232/RS485/ , Zigbee, PLC, RF, GSM/GPRS through which utilities can get the meter data remotely. This feature has helped utilities to analyse meters data stored in meter memory. At the same time consumer can also see his consumptions, load pattern, billing pattern etc. Metering industry is moving towards providing online data to central server to avoid any human interventions their by helps utilities in improving their revenue losses. Elecrama is not only a exhibition it’s a “World Electricity & Power Distribution Forum” with a emphasis on new innovation, technological advancements and stimulating to discussion and opportunities for all the stake holders. I would also like to mention here more than 500 Top level officers from Utilities, regulators, policy makers, laboratories representative, research institute, industry experts and industries etc. attended the ELECRAMA- 2014. This 500 number will further grow in this Elecrama 2016. Previous ELECRAMA event was a great success to the industries lot of business opportunities were generated from African and middle east countries, EPC contractors. Elecrama is the best platform for metering industry to showcase the products and solutions to their customers. I am confident that Elecrama 2016 would attract customers attention on new technologies and solutions offered by the metering industry.

Q. What were the achievements and challenges during your tenure as the chairman of IEEMA, Meter division so far? What is the way ahead for the division?

Well, I recently took over as a Chairman IEEMA meter division, I am grateful to my fallow Chairmen with their valuable contribution, have already laid the path for metering industry. Under their able guidance industry has seen sustainable growth and able to resolved industry related issue from time to time. I would also like to mention here that IEEMA meter division conducts “Metering India” events after every two years, which is now becoming a most participated event of IEEMA after ELECRAMA. I am also thankful to all industry members for their active participations in IEEMA meetings and for imparting their valuable contributions from time to time.

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