Nearly four years after the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission’s first order to implement a monthly power billing for domestic and commercial consumers, the UT administration has reiterated before the commission that the system is unfeasible in Chandigarh.
The response came after the commission sought the progress report of the smart grid project. The administration further informed the commission that the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has already dropped the smart grid project in the wake of the UT power department’s privatisation.
Under the Smart Grid project, the UT administration had planned to install smart electricity meters across the city by the end of 2022-23 fiscal as part of power sector reforms. Since 2019, as part of the pilot, UT had already spent ₹28 crore on installation of 24,000 smart power meters.
