ISLAMABAD: With an aim to ensure zero electricity management, also known as loadshedding, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has decided to introduce Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to facilitate at least one million consumers in the first phase.

The decision will help eliminate line losses and power theft. As a result of the new system, human involvement in the process of meter reading will be negligible and Iesco will be able to manage the load for every house and the industrial sector. Due to AMI, the consumers will get data in real-time regarding power consumption.

It is worth mentioning that initially there were complaints regarding meter readings but the issue was addressed after the introduction of an advanced mechanism in which meter readers were directed to file pictures of meters at the time of the reading.

Iesco spokesperson Raja Asim, while talking to Dawn, said the AMI would be beneficial for consumers and the company. “The project has been started on the instructions of Minister for Power Division Engineer Khurram Dastgir and the implementation is progressing rapidly,” he said, adding that Board of Directors Chairman Qamarul Islam Raja and Iesco Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammad Amjad Khan were supervising the project.

One million consumers to be facilitated in first phase, will have access to real-time data on their power use

According to the spokesperson, the primary database would be established in Islamabad whereas a secondary database, which will act as a backup, would be based in Gujar Khan so that in case of a technical issue, data could be retrieved from the secondary database.

It has been decided that in the first phase, AMI will be introduced in all commercial units - Rawalpindi City and Cantonment Circle - and all the areas where line losses or power theft are at maximum level, he said.

According to the estimates, over one million meters/consumers will be facilitated with AMI in the first phase, he said.

Mr Asim said as part of the AMI technology, two devices would be installed on a transformer to generate signals which would be used to control data and transmit to the main database.

The spokesperson said through these devices, the company would not let transformers overheat during the summer season.

It will also inform how many houses were using electricity beyond their authorised limit, he said, adding that the device installed on the transformer would reduce the load automatically if a consumer was found exceeding the set limit.

If one air conditioner would be running in one house and another house would be operating five ACs, Iesco will be able to ensure that all houses would use only one air conditioner in order to decrease the load on the transformer, he said.

It is also possible that the air conditions do not run at all in case of a gap between the demand and supply as the device would have the capability to restrict electricity to air conditioners and allow only fans to operate.

“At the end of the month, electricity bills would be generated automatically because of the second device affixed on the transformer,” he said, adding that this practice would reduce the expenses incurred on meter readings.

Moreover, consumers will also get real-time data regarding electricity use and will be able to manage their power consumption, the spokesperson said, adding that the consumers would be able to direct the system to generate an alert to monitor the use of units.

Raja Asim said currently, in case of electricity failure, the consumer had to lodge the complaint but AMI would automatically generate the complaint and inform Iesco.

“New system will eliminate line losses and power theft as in case of any manhandling with a meter, an alert will be generated. Moreover, the system will identify how many watts were being sent from a transformer and how many watts were being noted by meters in a street,” the spokesperson added.

“The AMI system will reduce the expenses of Iesco and consumers will not have to suffer because of transformer faults. Line losses will be reduced and consumers will pay their bills without any hesitation that they were being overcharged and their trust in Iesco will increase,” he said.

“Due to timely billing, the recovery of bills will also increase, and the power supply of non-paying bills customers will be automatically disconnected from the data control room,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2022