It was probably in 1889 when Thomson came up with his recording wattmeter, the first true mechanism of measuring consumption of electricity. Thus we can say that the device we call (electricity) meter is more than a century old, but definitely the journey of gradual upgrade in (electricity) meter technology is not a long one. In fact, before the introduction of electronic meter (in India), probably 15-20 years ago, same traditional meters were on vogue, and probably no state electricity board ever provoked any thought on any upgrade thereof, or of infusing any (electronic) technology element in it. But we may say that when even the electronic technology itself was at its very inception 15-20 years ago, such a thought process, if it could have been initiated somewhere, it would have been very awesome to bring it into real practical being.
But the electricity metering has undergone strategic transformation by leaps and bound in last 10 years. The nostalgia compels me to write this piece of blog. The one very important interesting part of such a transformation I see is that the profile of meter-reader who communicates between a household coparcener and the state electricity board local office has changed drastically. I remember that in old days, one meter reader used to have come to every locality anytime in the first week of the month carrying a notebook. He used to note down the reading of the meter in his notebook, and on one card stuck with a pin on the wall near place of meter. He was well greeted too with water and tea and sometime with snacks too. After such recording of meter reading, we used to have received the manual bill, which was paid manually, in the queue capable of making the common man understand fully that he had committed the most heinous crime by taking an electricity connection from electricity board, and who after submission of such dues feeling busted fully would come back home totally broken. That was the meter-reader, the only connection between a common man and the electricity board local office.
Now the same person turns up, but with one handoff. He will punch in some data (actual reading of meter), will give you a long piece of paper, where so much of data will be embossed on it that even the highest officer in electricity board office is unable to make out some meaning therefrom, and probably some slogan like 'Save Energy' and the like imprinted on it, though the same office will be wasting electricity like anything by keeping a large number of tube lights on in its premises with heavy curtains drawn on the windows so that no natural light could ever ever enter the room. What an irony?
Electronic meter of electricity was introduced probably to check the increasing incidences of meter tempering. The adjective 'electronic' in Electronic meter was not 'electronic' the way it was and it is used in email or eBanking or in eGovernance. This way, the newer generation of electricity meter, i.e. Smart Meter is truly electronic meter or eMeter' the alphabet 'e' being the acronym for 'electronic'.
The Smart Meter or eMeter is at the forefront of and is an integral part of the total strategy of policy makers of ushering the total reforms in strengthening the structure of energy sector, paving its ways forwards ensuring Smart Grid program. The Smart Meter has a specific role to play when key benefits of Smart Grid program are reckoned and a seamless control of overall energy value chain becomes the core issue of delivering clean and affordable power to the last consumer coupled with emancipating him of large and long queues on one hand and timely revenue collection by the distribution company on the other.
The Smart Meter has replaced the traditional meter reader particularly in communication with electricity office. But simultaneously I see a greater role of Mobile / PDA and RFID technology in moving towards the state of Smart Metering when I find that despite the meter-reader having a hand-hold device while taking reading of my electricity meter (at Bhopal, India), and further despite giving me an on-the-spot electricity bill, I am not able to pay it instantaneously online on http://www.mponline.gov.in/ (precisely on https://www.mponline.gov.in/Portal/Services/mpeb/citizen/billpay/Default.aspx?langid=en-US&Dist=BPL), and I am made to wait for 5-6 days or till the time the data from such hand-hold device of such meter-reader is loaded into some server (probably manually or by transferring electronically, I don't know), I feel somehow sick of the system. But it is definitely a lack on the part of the concerned energy distribution company, and not on the part of mponline. We must agree that mponline has done a wonderful job in ensuring i-services to the citizens of Madhya Pradesh by providing such a robust portal for interacting with various departments of GoMP/GoI. I think if somehow a PDA along with a small printer could be used for meter-reading. The use of PDA shall ensure that the data in server of electricity Distribution Company has been updated just at the time the print was given to consumer, and such PDA will be an integral part of smart meter or eMeter. The same could be done by using RFID technology too. The electricity Distribution Company will have to ponder over not only how the revenue collection could be increased, but could be collected Just In Time.
