CITU-backed union welcomes Tangedco's move to cancel Adani's smart meter tender
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) had bagged the contract, putting the State government under severe pressure as the promoter is in the eye of the storm over bribery allegations, as per a US government investigation.
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CHENNAI: The CITU-affiliated Central Organisation of Tamil Nadu Electricity Employees (COTEE) has welcomed the cancellation of the smart meters procurement tenders and demanded Tangedco to implement the project in a phased manner.
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) had bagged the contract, putting the State government under severe pressure as the promoter is in the eye of the storm over bribery allegations, as per a US government investigation.
“We have been demanding the state government to stop the implementation of smart meter projects based on the TOTEX model of private smart meter contracts as per the directive of the Union Ministry of Power under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). Now the utility has cancelled the tenders for the smart meter project,” COTEE state secretary S Kannan said.
Under the TOTEX model, the private smart meter companies would be responsible for installing, operating and maintaining the smart meter infrastructure. He said that consumers would be forced to pay rent for the smart meters for 10 years. He demanded the State government adopt the approach of the Kerala government, which has opposed the TOTEX model and decided to implement the project through its State electricity board.
Kannan noted that implementing the smart meter project across the State in a single phase would result in financial loss for Tangedco. “If the smart meters are installed in all the consumer premises, the existing electronic static meters, which are in good condition, would have to be scrapped. It is simply a waste of money for the utility with a huge debt,” he said, adding that hence the DISCOM should gradually implement the smart meters starting with the cities and then to suburban and rural areas.
“The released meters can serve a dual purpose by replacing defective meters and providing new electricity connections. It avoids unnecessary waste and expense and extends the life of existing assets,” he said.
Tangedco planned to instal 3,00,14,117 smart meters replacing the existing digital meters in all the low-tension (LT) and high-tension (HT) consumers except for the agricultural and hut consumers in 38 districts along with 4.72 lakh distribution transformers metering, 16,974 feeder metering and 1,300 boundaries metering.