The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Distribution Programme is replacing old mechanical metres and any damaged metres with state of the art electrostatic metres in three government-owned power distribution companies (Discos), ie Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco). More than 20,000 metres have been replaced in Lesco and 9,000 in both Fesco and Pesco in selected subdivisions where improvements in meter reading and subsequent customer billing can be monitored.
The overall objective of this programme is to enhance the commercial viability of Discos by improving the accuracy of the energy billed to customers and eliminating the need to estimate bills. This will improve the confidence of consumers in the accuracy of their bills and is expected to reduce the commercial losses of Discos and improve profitability.
The metre replacement project is a step-by-step process, in which the grid feeders are first surveyed and metres identified for replacement in accordance with Disco records and approval. Replacements are fully recorded on official Disco forms. The metres which have to be replaced are further evaluated to decide whether to install them on walls or poles. When possible, metres are installed on the walls of homes/buildings; metres are replaced in accordance with DISCO technical specifications set for all subdivisions and all retired metres are given back to Discos for destruction after two full billing cycles to allow customers to challenge readings as required. The installation teams pay attention to the smallest of details including tidying up the tangle of wires on poles and along walls, especially in "congested areas".
The project ensures that all metres are installed at a readable height, and is a small but important intervention which helps meter readers in taking more accurate readings." Looking ahead, the programme will also install automatically read metres in different Discos - walk-by automatic radio frequency (RF) metres allow meter reading by handheld computer units, while fully automated meter reading (AMR) systems transmit real time power consumption to a control centre. Currently, 7,000 AMRs are being installed in selected subdivisions within Lesco.
The USAID Power Distribution Program is a five year, USAID-funded program aimed at working jointly with Discos in Pakistan to improve their performance in terms of a reduction in losses, and improvement in both revenues and customer services, to bring them to the level of well-run utilities in other progressive countries. Through this program, the United States Government provides assistance and support to the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to reform the power sector to end the current energy shortfall.