Overview
- The federal government has announced a plan to install smart meters on transformers across all power distribution companies to cut electricity theft and improve billing accuracy.
- Officials told a DISCOs meeting that progress has been made in arranging funding through the Economic Affairs Division while talks with multilateral development partners continue.
- The administration said any DISCO privatisation that occurs during the programme will include transfer of relevant financing and development programmes to the private investor under agreed handover terms.
- New projects by private investors will be subject to competitive bidding and require approval from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority to protect consumers and enforce investor obligations.
- If implemented, the rollout could reduce illegal connections and wrong billing for households and businesses and make DISCOs more attractive to investors by cutting technical and commercial losses.