The government today informed that 100 percent smart metering is being implemented in the Municipal Committee (MC) Hiranagar under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
Replying to a question raised by Legislator Vijay Kumar in the House today, Minister Javed Ahmad Rana informed that the smart meters have been installed for 77 percent of consumers in the Municipal Committee Hiranagar, while installation for the remaining consumers is currently under progress.
He was replying on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The Minister said that the provision of uninterrupted power supply is contingent upon achieving 100 percent smart metering and reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses below the threshold of 15 percent, as per the Load Curtailment Programme notified by the Department.
“Once 100 percent smart metering is achieved, all the consumers will be billed strictly on the basis of actual energy consumption recorded through smart meters and billing on a flat-rate basis will be completely discontinued,” apprised the Minister.
The Minister said that under prevailing JERC Tariff Orders, only those consumers where smart meters are yet to be installed, are being billed on a flat-rate basis.
“This arrangement is purely temporary and shall continue only until smart meters are installed for all such consumers, where-after billing shall be undertaken exclusively on a metered basis in conformity with the regulations in force,” he stated.
The Minister attributed the frequent power cuts to scheduled load curtailment under the Load Curtailment Programme (LCP), linked to Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss levels. Feeders with 15 to 40 percent billing efficiency face 3-hour cuts, while those above 40 percent face 6-hour cuts.
He informed that apart from scheduled curtailment, occasional power interruptions also occur due to curtailment imposed by SLDC owing to system constraints for maintaining grid stability, planned shutdowns undertaken for execution of new system strengthening and augmentation works under various schemes and unforeseen technical faults in the distribution network.
The Minister outlined measures to tackle frequent power interruptions, including strengthening HT/LT networks by adding poles and replacing worn-out conductors, implementing smart metering for 100% coverage, and enforcing drives against power theft to reduce AT&C losses, aiming to improve power supply reliability.
He added that the expected timeline for completion of installation of Smart Meters is September 2026.
