Assistant Undersecretary for the Customer Service Sector in the Ministry, Eng. Ahmed Rashidi, confirmed that the Ministry of Electricity and Water is running the development and modernization of the electricity system to reach the target savings against the production costs, reported an Arab daily. He explained that the customer service sector is currently focused on two tracks to serve this trend, first is retaining the effectiveness of collection, which witnessed a great boom in the last fiscal year by accumulating the largest amount at KD 469 million.
Al-Rashidi said that in five months, the ministry obtained, from the beginning of the current fiscal year last April until 31st of August, KD 190 million and KD 400 thousand. At least 80 million of these were paid by government agencies from ministries and agencies, while the share of private housing amounted to KD 37 million and investment 30 million. The rest were distributed to the industrial and agricultural sectors, among others.
The official also expected an increase in the payment share at the level of the government, with the adoption of the current budget, given the figures of the last fiscal year, as government agencies at the time paid 217 million out of a debt of KD 249 million. He said this constitutes a high collection rate compared to previous years.
Moreover, he pointed out that the second development path pertains to the completion of the smart meter installation plan. A total of 120,000 meters have been installed so far, of which 5,645 are currently operating on a prepaid system, and about 115,000 others will be installed by the end of the current fiscal year following completion of special procedures.
Meters have been installed in Hawalli and Salmiya, and installation has started in Farwaniya, according to Al-Rashidi. In addition, smart meters are currently being installed in private residences, or for those who want to upgrade, pointing out that the total number of meters that were installed in private housing totaled to 1,439 to date.
Al-Rashidi is also expecting closure of the second tender for smart meters on the 20th of September, which is enough to cover the country’s needs, as it comprises 700,000 meters, where 500,000 of which are electricity meters, 200,000 smart water meters, in addition to 200,000 electricity meters received in the first tender, and with the end of the supply for the second tender by 2024, the ministry will be able to completely replace the entire country’s meters across various sectors. He added that the ministry aims to reduce operational costs at the level of energy production by 20 percent, while completing the replacement of smart meters in the coming years