Smart meters: Time to make that smart switch

The current crisis in the power distribution sector offers a great reform opportunity even as it reiterates an urgent need – to switch en masse from traditional to smart meters. Financially stressed power distribution companies (discoms) are staring at rising losses as demand and collections have declined with the Covid-19 lockdowns. CRISIL Research expects power demand to contract 3-5% on-year this fiscal compared with a CAGR of 3.8% between fiscals 2015 and 2020.

However, discoms could adopt a simple and effective solution to tackle the crisis – by ramping up collection efficiency quickly through large-scale adoption of smart metering solutions. Earlier reform footprints, availability of resources, renewed thrust on ‘aatmanirbhar’ manufacturing, and above all, an urgency to revive ailing discoms make this switch more viable today.