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Pre-paid electricity meters to be set up in AP govt offices
Power distribution companies in Andhra Pradesh will install pre-paid electricity meters in all the government offices in Andhra Pradesh from the next financial year in order to avoid power bills arrears problem.
Vijayawada: Power distribution companies in Andhra Pradesh will install pre-paid electricity meters in all the government offices in Andhra Pradesh from the next financial year in order to avoid power bills arrears problem.
Government offices are the major defaulters of power bills in the State. The distribution companies like Southern Power Distribution Company Limited, Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited have to get arrears of Rs 1,800 crore from the government departments.
Panchayat Raj and Irrigation departments are the major defaulters in the State. Irrigation department uses the power for lift irrigation projects while village panchayats use power for water pumping and street lighting.
Energy Department Principal Secretary Ajay Jain addressing a media conference at the SPDCL SE office in Vijayawada on Wednesday said the distribution companies would go for installation of pre-paid power meters. The government offices have to recharge the power bill meters on a monthly or quarterly basis. He said tenders process for installation of pre-paid meters will begin in the next financial year.
He said the distribution companies have no option but to go for pre-paid meters to avoid arrears of bills. He said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had also agreed for installation of pre-paid meters in all the government offices.
Referring to power generation, he said AP is now producing surplus energy and there is uninterrupted power supply throughout the State. He said the State grid met a peak demand of 7,965 MW (during August 2016) this year so far without any load restrictions.
The average daily grid consumption which was around 138 million units during 2015-16, has recorded a healthy growth rate of around 8 per cent and is now around 149 million units (up to the end of January 2017).
He further said the maximum daily average grid consumption is 178 MU/day during the financial year 2016-17 as against 162 MU/day in 2015-16.
The distribution losses of AP discoms have touched below 10 per cent mark and are expected to stay in a single digit by the end of this financial year, Ajay Jain added.
He recalled that all the efforts are being made to meet the agriculture demand in the State during this rabi season. Utilities are directed to make necessary arrangements to avoid any kind of interruptions to the agriculture consumers and to extend flexible hours of supply as per the field requirements.
A Chandra Sekhara Reddy, Chief Executive Officer, State Energy Conservation Mission, and other officials were present.
