LESCO Smart Meters: A deadline for accomplishment

LESCO is a leading company among all DISCOs in opting latest technology for the betterment of its consumers. Now, they plan to change existing meters to smart meters for the whole region. They are planning to change the total meters of 6.7 million consumers to smart meters by 2029.

They are moving to adopt Advanced Metering Infrastructure ( AMI ) for the betterment of consumers. This system will eliminate overbilling in the region and give relief to the consumers.

What Are Smart Meters?

These are digital devices which will record the usage of electricity automatically and send the data or report to LESCO directly. Unlike traditional analogue meters, smart meters offer detailed insights into energy consumption.

They enable the consumers to make decisions regarding energy consumption by analysing their energy consumption. Consumers can check their electricity consumption at any time and can make decisions to save electricity consumption.

Key Features of Smart Meters

Real-time monitoring: We can check consumption data instantly
Accurate Billing: Manual meter reading errors like overbilling will be eliminated and ensure accurate or precise billing.
Energy Efficiency: As consumers can check their consumption in real time, it will encourage them to save electricity.
Outage Detection: These meters will detect and address power outages through meter tempering or other means.

Benefits of Smart Meters

Accurate bills based on real consumption of electricity
With real-time monitoring, users can track their use of electricity
It will motivate them to save electricity
These will notify the control room about any fault instantly
Data is automatically sent to the control room so no need for manual reading
This will save a huge capital for LESCO as there will be no need for manual meter readers

Transition to Smart Meters

LESCO is actively working on this project of AMI to install Smart Meters. 3-Phase smart metering has already started as a milestone for this project. Its CEO Shahid Haider has confirmed the scale and transition for this AMI project.

He also added that it is a huge project with 6.7 million users to converting them instantly is not possible in a short time. So it will take time to complete and they have a deadline for this project of 2029. He said in 2029 over-billing will be eliminated.

Current Status

They have replaced over 60,000 old analogue meters with modern smart meters for small industries and tube well connections. Shortly they have planned to replace the other 56000 meters.

They are planning to issue smart meters for all new 3-phase domestic connections. It will paw the path of transition to smart meters.

Historical Background

This project was started in 2018 with a pilot project of 18000 smart meters. They covered different localities like Faizpur, Rachna Town, Bilal Ganj and Taj Bagh. These meters enable the consumer to check data in real time.

These meters send data instantly to the control room without any delay or error. This eliminates human errors in reading like over-billing and corruption and improves the service quality overall.

Future Planes

Asian Development Fund is giving aid to LESCO for its AMI project and giving 131,000 smart meters. More than 35000 meters will be replaced in the coming months. They are trying to overcome the shortage of smart meters which has been faced in previous months.

LESCO has handed out 19000 meters to new connections and 30,000 meter replacements. 80,000 more units are arriving soon. In total 300000 out of 750000 ordered meters are expected to arrive before the end of the month. Single-phase smart meters are also in progress.

Modernization

LESCO is working hard to facilitate its consumers with a modern support system. It has launched the program of “ Customer Service Centres “ to assist its consumers at best. If you are facing any issues then you can visit any nearest customer services centre and can register your complaint.

In this regard, it has launched 2 new state-of-the-art customer service centres in 2nd and 5th circle. Now the customers of these areas did not need to visit headquarters to get assistance. They can enquire about any information regarding bill correction, instalment process, payment extension and much more.

While visiting these new centres, CEO Mr, Shahid said that it is our top priority to give the best assistance to our customers. He added that he will try his level best to deploy the trained and well-educated staff to these centres for customer assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

In this, a meter will record the consumption of electricity and send data to the control room by a secure transfer system.

Yes, it will help consumers to track their electricity consumption and make saving plans accordingly.

If you are applying for a new connection then mention in your application for a smart meter while the existing meters will automatically replaced with this meter.

Conclusion

LESCO’s shift to smart meters is a crucial step toward eliminating electricity theft, overbilling, and inefficiencies. By 2029, millions of consumers will enjoy accurate billing, improved service, and greater control over energy use. This modernization not only benefits consumers but also strengthens Pakistan’s energy infrastructure

Let’s hope that this project will be accomplished in 2029 and will erase all illegal practices of electricity theft.