The long-pending demand of electricity consumers to revert to the monthly billing cycle for domestic category may be conceded once the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) executes the project of installing “smart meters”
Indicating this, a senior official of the power utility said the main constraint in going back to the old system of monthly billing was the inadequate number of assessors. Once the “smart meters” are installed, the assessment of consumption of domestic consumers becomes possible even monthly as the readings can be done remotely by the utility at its designated points on account of two-way communication flow. The need for physical reading of the meters will be done away with, the official explains.
According to Tangedco’s tariff petition filed with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, the utility is carrying out the project of installing 1.41 lakh postpaid “smart meters” in T. Nagar, Chennai, since January 2021 by adopting radio frequency (RF) technology. The area has been chosen in view of the consumer density. As of now, nearly 82,300 such meters have been installed. The equipment has a provision for prepaid arrangement.
