THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State government offices and high-end consumers will be the first to have smart power meters installed on their respective premises, if the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited(KSEBL) has its way, it has emerged.
But, contrary to expectations the board is likely to go only for hardware which will cost between Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 per smart meter. If so, a consumer need to shell out only Rs 4,000 as total expenditure towards setting up a smart meter from the earlier expected cost of Rs 7,000.
Earlier the KSEBL had decided to install 37 lakh prepaid smart metres by March 1, 2023 in the first stage. With the KSEB Officers’ Association and other trade unions opposing the burden being slapped on the consumers, the government had set up a committee to go into the issue and come up with a proposal on slashing the cost. Accordingly, it was decided to bring down the number of smart meters to 5 lakh in state government offices and high-end consumers.
KSEBOA president M G Suresh Kumar told TNIE that the board would have to remove the project implementation agency, Rural Electrification Corporation Power Distribution Company Limited (RECPDCL) as the project will be implemented only step by step.