State govt to miss smart meter installation target

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 26

The installation of smart meters has fallen way behind schedule even as the Power Department has given a go-ahead to extending the installation plan to Panchkula after rolling it out in Karnal and Gurugram earlier this year.

Sources in the department said that against a supply plan of more than three lakh meters by year-end, the two power distribution companies (discoms) — the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) — have so far received only one lakh meters.

Moreover, the target was to instal 1.7 lakh meters by December 31, but just over 70,000 meters have been installed.

The installation of smart meters will enable meter reading every half an hour to ascertain the usage through the day and bring about greater efficiency in supply during slots of “higher demand”, benefitting the consumers.

Also, the software in the meters would reduce human intervention in reading of meters, billing and disconnection. It would enable the department to disconnect a particular meter for non-payment of dues without having to visit the spot, reducing the usual conflict that arises between the staff and the public when the former visits the spot.

The discoms had entered into an MoU with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), an energy service company of the Government of India, for 10 lakh smart meters in July last year. But the installation in Haryana began in March this year. The deadline to instal 10 lakh meters is March 31, 2021.

However, the slow supply coupled with slower installation has not gone down well with Haryana, which wants EESL and the system integrator, L&T, to speed up the work since a third city, Panchkula, has been included in the installation plan.

After a review meeting held last week, the state government wrote to the Secretary (Power), Government of India, seeking his intervention in giving momentum to the programme to ensure “complete supply, installation and commissioning” of the smart meters by the 2021 deadline.

In his letter, ACS (Power) TC Gupta has said the progress by EESL “has been dismal”. The letter states that EESL committed to a supply plan of 50,000 meters per month from July this year up to December. However, only one lakh meters have been supplied so far.

Emphasising the need to ramp up the supply and the installation, Gupta, in his letter, said EESL and the system integrator was committed to installing 2,000 meters a day, but only 1,100 meters were being installed. A minimum of 3,000 meters per day have to be installed if the deadline is to be met.