Smart meters: Panacea for power theft?

Electricity loss in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is over 50%. The state-owned power utility JKPDCL, which manages millions of units of electricity, is planning to install 2.5 lakh smart meters, accounting for around 20% of the total user base. Has this state developed enough to pursue smart metering in the power sector? Has the essential groundwork been completed before the implementation of this system, or is a strategy in place?

Jammu and Kashmir has a high rate of power theft and unlawful use of electricity. There are political and geographical reasons behind this.

Things have now begun to improve. The administration has prohibited the use of crude heating coils based on nichrome in the state. During the extreme cold season, the residents use these coils mostly by pilfering electricity from the overhead line. Rather than addressing the societal problem, the state has prohibited the use of nichrome coils, which are an example of cutting off the head to avoid a headache.

A careful study of the utility’s performance reveals that not all technical and non-technical procedures for preventing power theft have been implemented. The unlawful usage of unmetered electrical connections is increasing, and the state has little control over it. The transmission and distribution sectors continue to engage in business with a below-average efficiency spectrum. The Indian power sector has enormous challenges such as a lack of effort and capacity to detect unauthorized usage of electricity, malfunctioning meters, inefficient revenue collection practices, and so on. In Jammu and Kashmir, the issues are more complex. As the government has to address many other critical concerns, the power sector has not received the proper significance in this state, as it does in other Indian states. Many non-technical measures to curb power theft could be adopted in the state, but they have not been, leaving the power sector reform process in J&K in its infancy. 

The state is currently on the path to progress, thanks to the Government’s varied activities. The law and order situation has improved, and the domestic tourism sector has seen a unique period of growth in terms of both the number of tourists that visit and the revenue generated by this sector. The electricity sector must progress in tandem with these sectors, and improvements in generation, transmission, and distribution are necessary.

Many businesses in this state have never paid their electricity bills on time, resulting in growing losses day after day. Officials turn a blind eye to these consumers, resulting in exponential non-technical losses. The Government of India has already issued numerous rigorous directives aimed at reducing losses, which have never been returned equally by the state. The saga of growing power sector losses in Jammu and Kashmir continues.

Rather than blaming the passive tendencies of the past, it is high time for the state-owned JKPSCL to focus on the business of providing 24×7 interrupted power supply in the state. Reducing power sector loss is not a novel concept, nor is the implementation of smart meters to reduce power theft. It has just reached Jammu and Kashmir now.

If this is the case in the northernmost state of the Republic of India, there is little difference in adopting smart meters in the southernmost state, Kerala, due to a different cause. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has installed 2.5 lakh users, even though the ‘minimum requirements’ for the development and implementation of loss reduction measures remain uncertain. The state of Kerala had planned to put smart meters in approximately one-third of its consumers, which sparked strong criticism from numerous stakeholders. Before deploying a new system, it is critical to test various concerns in a few pilot sections to determine its overall effectiveness. 

Are smart meters the answer to all of the power sector’s problems? No. If a state has reported a 50% or greater loss, it is best to halt all non-technical losses before moving forward with a high-tech and capital-intensive smart metering implementation system. Isn’t it fair to minimize the loss to one-fourth of its current level before implementing smart metering? Many successful loss-reduction strategies remain to be attempted in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Before making such a great leap, the JKPDCL should focus on this.