The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said a total of 102,000 Smart meters have been installed in the investment and commercial sectors in the Farwaniya and Hawalli governorates, and added work is underway to install these meters in private housing, starting from next Sunday in what it called ‘new areas’.
In a statement to a local Arabic daily, the ministry pointed out the Smart meters will provide greater flexibility for the ministry’s customer billing department, in addition collecting the ministry’s dues and preventing the accumulation of bills as happened in the past when the old meters were in use.
Moreover, the Smart meters, the MEW source said, will facilitate the payment of power consumption in various ways whether through the ministry’s website or through consumer affairs centers and through other methods.
The sources added the Smart meter system will eliminate many of the negatives that occurred in the past due to human intervention or human error, because Smart meters are read electronically, in addition to identifying malfunction in the meter, if any, or tampering with it, as it gives a signal to the system and a specialized team will go to the site of the meter to find out the cause of the malfunction.
The ministry had begun installing Smart meters in the investment and commercial sectors in the Farwaniya and Hawalli governorates, as part of a plan to replace all mechanical meters in the country with Smart meters, and had stressed the importance of these meters in digital transformation, and improving the quality and efficiency of services provided to the public, in accordance with the development plans adopted by the state.
