• Installed Smart electric meters in India are 5.5 million, and over 100 million are sanctioned.
• Target is to replace 250 million conventional electric meters with prepaid smart meters by 2025-26.
• India is supporting this initiative through a results-linked grant-cum-financing to help power distribution companies (discoms) become financially sound and efficient to deliver better services to consumers.
• However, there are also on-ground challenges.

What is Smart Electric Meter or Smart Meter?

• It is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor.
• It records energy near real-time, and reports regularly, at short intervals throughout the day.
• It enables two-way communication between the meter and the central system.

Study on Smart Electric Meters

• It was conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
• It covered 2,700 urban households that use prepaid or postpaid smart meters across six States.

Key Findings of the Study on Smart Electric Meters:

• Half the users reported improvements in billing regularity, and two-thirds said paying bills had become easier.
• 40% of users alluded to multiple co-benefits such as:
• Greater sense of control over their electricity expenses,
• Drop in instances of electricity theft, and
• Improved local power supply.
• 70% of users would recommend the technology to their friends and relatives.
• These findings give confidence that India’s smart metering transition is heading in the right direction.

Challenges:

• Half the users were not using the smart meter mobile app.
• Many users were unable to access detailed electricity bills, leaving them doubtful about their bill computation and deductions.
• Solving these will help bring a smart-meter revolution in India.

Suggestions

User Satisfaction and Smart Meter apps

• Ministry of Power should educate consumers about smart meter benefits and improve the uptake of smart meter apps.
• Apps should be accessible to users from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and provide actionable tips and information.
• User satisfaction with smart meters is linked to their ability to access and decipher online bills and perceived technology benefits.
• High user satisfaction in Assam and high uptake of the mobile app in Bihar indicate learning opportunities on how to scale smart meter usage for discoms in other States.

Distribution Companies (Discoms)

• Discoms must co-own the programme and take the driving seat.
• Majority of smart meters in India are being deployed by the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Providers (AMISPs).
• AMISPs responsible for installation and operation of the AMI system for the project lifetime (10 years).
• Discoms must closely work with AMISPs to ensure users'' smooth installation and recharge experience.
• It will leverage smart meter data for revenue protection and consumer engagement.
• For this, Discoms will need to strengthen their internal capacity through suitable staffing and training interventions.

Smart Meter Data

• Discoms system integrators and technology providers should collaborate to devise innovative and scalable data solutions.
• Effective use of smart meter data is fundamental to unlocking their true value proposition.
• This would require an ecosystem that fosters innovation in analytics, data hosting, and sharing platforms and enables key actors to collaboratively test and scale new solutions.

Regulations

• Policymakers and regulators must strengthen regulations to empower consumers to unlock new retail markets.
• Currently, important provisions concerning the phase-out of paper bills, arrear adjustment, frequency of recharge alerts, buffer time, rebates, and data privacy are scattered across different regulatory orders or simply missing.
• Regulation’s incorporation within existing State frameworks will be crucial.
• Regulators must also enable simplification and innovation in tariff design and open the retail market to new business models and prosumagers (producers, consumers, and storage users).
• Ministry of Power has proposed amendments to the Electricity Rules to enable time-variable tariffs for all smart meter users.

India is on a journey of meeting its growing electricity demand while decarbonising its generation sources. Smart meters comprise a critical part of the transition toolbox, by way of enabling responsible consumption, efficient energy management, and cost-effective integration of distributed energy resources. A user-centric design and deployment philosophy will be crucial for the success of India’s smart metering initiative.