Kenya Power has introduced an outdoor meter installation project for large power consumers to increase revenue collection from. The company has invested Sh3.2 billion in the outdoor and in-house installation project.
The company will install 5,600 outdoor smart meters outside the buildings of large power customers to enable the inspection of nearby in-house smart meters without entering the customer’s premises.
Rosemary Oduor, acting general manager for customer service engineer said installing outdoor meters will enable remote reading of meters hence decreasing operational costs thereby increasing revenue collection from the sale electricity.
Smart meters ensure two-way communication between Kenya Power and the meters enabling remote and real-time monitoring of power consumption. Therefore, any issues such as tampering will be quickly detected and resolved.
Ms Oduor said smart meters will be spread to other users soon to increase the ease of access. Large power customers contribute nearly 55 percent of the company’s revenue.
Kenya Power has installed outdoor meters for 80 percent of the large customers as the company aims to increase the use of technology to boost efficiency.
“With the technology, it is also possible to read meters remotely, disconnect and reconnect remotely in the event of non-payment, reducing the need for sending technicians to site,” Oduor said.
Outdoor meters will also increase security in all premises by installing the smart meters atop a pole thereby ensuring that Kenya Power workers can read and inspect the meters without disturbing the consumers.
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