Tata Power is the first distribution utility in Mumbai, India, to initiate smart metering for its consumers. More than 7000 smart meters have been installed so far.
With the installation of smart meters, Tata Power has also provided its customers with valuable data analytics tools. Customers can now view and optimize their electricity consumption in near real time through a customer portal and mobile app.
Smart meters are a smart choice, both for customers as well as energy providers, offering complete transparency regarding energy consumption patterns and billing. The smart meter rollout has witnessed a positive support from customers, allowing them easy access to monitor their consumption in just a few clicks on an hourly, daily, or monthly basis.
Smart meters also update consumers with their monthly usage compared to their consumption in the last 12 months and allow them to compare their consumption with the average monthly consumption of peers. Customers receive alerts for abnormal usage so that they can optimize their consumption.
"Mumbai customers had billing issues last summer. We are now transitioning to a completely automated system using digital technologies, and smart metering is one such initiative as we upgrade our distribution services in Mumbai. Customer satisfaction is at our core and we want to empower our customers with such value-added services in the future," said Sanjay Banga, president, T&D, Tata Power.
Smart meters automatically register meter readings to Tata Power's billing system, thereby eliminating the probability of errors because of manual meter readings. This is especially helpful when there are physical restrictions, which most utilities have faced during the pandemic.
