The government has approved a nationwide installation of smart meters across all electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), with funding expected from multilateral financial institutions through loans worth billions of dollars.
According to an official statement, the matter was discussed at a meeting chaired by Ahad Cheema, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and the Establishment Division.
The meeting reviewed development programmes of the country’s electricity distribution companies, alongside efforts by the Economic Affairs Division to secure financing for the installation of smart meters on transformers across all DISCOs.
Officials said the government had decided to introduce smart meters nationwide, with financial support from international lending institutions.
As part of the proposed project, the government will hold negotiations with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to secure the required financing.
The loans are expected to support the installation of smart meters across electricity distribution companies throughout the country.
However, the official statement did not specify the total project cost, the amount of financing being sought from each institution or the timeline for completing the installation.
The proposed initiative forms part of the government’s efforts to upgrade electricity distribution infrastructure through the use of smart metering technology.
PESCO begins installing automatic reading meters to replace old meters
The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) has started installing modern automatic meter-reading (AMR) meters to replace old electricity meters across its service areas.
According to PESCO, the installation process is underway on the instructions of its Chief Executive, Akhtar Hameed Khan.
The new meters will automatically record electricity consumption, reducing the need for staff to visit homes and businesses to take readings.
The company previously announced plans to install 65,000 Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters under its Electricity Distribution Efficiency Improvement Project (EDEIP).
According to revised project documents, Rs1.82 billion has been allocated to install AMI meters with capacities ranging from 5 to 20 kilowatts.
This allocation also includes foreign currency costs of approximately $6.5 million.
