BANGALORE: Bangalore Electricity Supply Company’s (BESCOM) latest venture that aims at revolutionising power grid in the city seems to be finally taking shape. With the launch of smart meters, one can easily keep a track of consumption of power on a regular basis. “No longer will the consumer have to stand in long queues. Apart from providing real time data, the smart meters will not require any manual reading in order to help utilities to detect power theft in any form, “ said S A Sathish Kumar, General Manager, Smart Grid, Bescom. Siscon Hefcom Smart Solutions, a private firm has offered the technology for a pilot project. One of the biggest advantages of smart meters compared to the regular static ones is the option of ‘prepaid mode of payment’. Hence, consumers will be able to pay their bills and even post messages through this unique device. The power utilities will also have access to the geographic information system (GIS) of the consumers. “The entire system is extremely detailed. In case a consumer uses more electricity than authorised (crossing the limit), the smart metre will beep a warning. Keeping a track of individual consumption data shouldn’t be a big task. Load containment and restriction too can be monitored. The device transmits data on energy consumption regularly to a central server (currently housed in South Africa) linked to Bescom / Cesc through the General Packet Radio Service. Bescom plans to call for mass deployment of the meters if the device is found effective. Finally, the evaluation of the functioning of meters and data analysis has already begun, “ added Sathish.This entire project makes use of a two-way communication network and has been installed at eighty different places in Bangalore. Through smart meters we will also be able to calculate precise peak demands and adjust electrical loads. “Once the smart meter project becomes functional, we may be looking at charging consumers with nominal fees since the system is quite beneficial for all.
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