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Unaffordable Water
Published in Marcela López, Corporatization and the Right to Water in Colombia, 2022
The prepaid meter designed by EPM consists of recharging a card at authorized sites in denominations ranging from US$ 1.7 to 35 (Figures 3.1 and 3.2). Once recharged, the card muss be placed in a screen for approximately two seconds and the meter is recharged; 90 percent of this purchase is used for consumptions, while the remaining 10 percent is redirected towards paying off debts (from which no interest is charged). Consumers have to recharge the meters minimum four times per year, and they can buy credits from a network of approximately 5,000 licensed points across the city. Prepaid technologies are relatively expensive. While a typical conventional meter costs between US$30 and 40, the utility company estimates that the capital costs of installing prepaid meters are around US$ 220. Due to higher prices, EPM argues that prepaid systems can only be exclusively promoted in households with a low payment capacity.
Smart Grids
Published in Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis, Power Plant Synthesis, 2020
Smart meters are composed of an electronic device equipped with a communication link. They measure for specific, predefined time intervals, typically hourly time periods, the consumers' electricity consumption and, possibly, other consumption parameters and related magnitudes, and they transfer these data, through the communication network, to the utility and any other involved actor for billing, load factor control, peak load requirements, and the development of pricing strategies based on consumption information. The same information can also be shared with end-user devices, so the final consumers are kept informed about their own consumption patterns and the associated costs. Smart meters can also provide other information, such as historical consumption data, greenhouse gas emissions, tariff options, demand response rates, tax credits, remote connect/disconnect of users, appliance control and monitoring, power quality monitoring, switching, and prepaid metering [15].
Temporal analysis of electricity consumption for prepaid metered low- and high-income households in Soweto, South Africa
Published in Nnamdi Nwulu, Mammo Muchie, Engineering Design and Mathematical Modelling, 2020
Njabulo Kambule, Kowiyou Yessoufou, Nnamdi Nwulu, Charles Mbohwa
In 2007, the first official prepaid electricity-meter pilot project was undertaken in a small region of Soweto known as Chiawelo. To date, more than 45% of low-income households in Soweto are prepaid metered; the target is that all households be connected to this model of payment by 2020 (City Press 2016). While households have protested and rejected the prepaid meter technology, Eskom has persistently echoed that the technology stands to benefit rather than harm households (Ruiters 2007; Makonese, Kimemia, and Annergarn 2012; Chinomona and Sandada 2014; City Press 2015; Jack and Smith 2015, 2016; Press Reader 2015; Timeslive 2015; SABC 2016; IOL 2017) and this view is supported by several studies across various geographic regions where significant decreases in electricity consumption were reported (Darby 2006; Fischer 2008; Faruqui, Sergici, and Sharif 2010; Gans, Alberini, and Longo 2013; Qui and Xing 2015). For example, Faruqui, Sergici, and Sharif (2010) found that in North America the prepaid-metre technology reduced electricity consumption by 7% whereas in Northern Ireland, Gans, Alberini, and Longo (2013) reported a decrease of 11–17%. Similarly, Martin (2014) reported that households using prepaid electricity metres in Kentucky, USA, have reduced their electricity consumption by 11%. A study conducted in Canada noted that 25% of the sampled households utilized 20% less electricity with prepaid-metre technology (Casarin and Nicollier 2009). This decrease is the result of direct feedback on electricity consumption provided by prepaid meters, thus enabling consumers to monitor their electricity consumption.
Fixing agricultural power tariff without hurting farmers
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2021
M. Dinesh Kumar, A. Narayanamoorthy
Restricting farmers’ energy use for pumping groundwater is analogous to rationing groundwater withdrawal for irrigation volumetrically (Kumar, 2018). This can be done through prepaid electricity meters. As studies have shown, when water allocation is volumetrically rationed, farmers allocate the water to economically more efficient crops (Kumar, 2005). Thus, restricting energy use will improve groundwater use efficiency. But, in such cases, it is important that the consumers are informed about their energy quota, and the approximate number of hours for which they could pump water from their wells using this quota, well in advance. Such information will help them choose their crops. The energy quota must be based on the geohydrological environment prevailing in the area and the optimum irrigation requirements (Kumar, 2018; Kumar et al., 2011).
Explaining improvements and continuing challenges in water access in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2019
Second, households also expressed unhappiness with the meter-reading process. Many respondents noted that meters are read without the customer present and they believe the readings are inaccurate, whether by mistake or fraud. Some respondents indicated they monitored the meter regularly to track discrepancies, and this is a practice advocated by DAWASA. Multiple respondents provided evidence of inaccurate bills. The highest was a bill from 2017 of nearly 4.5 million Tanzanian shillings (nearly US$2000); after complaints to DAWASCO, the bill was reduced to 300,000 Tanzanian shillings, but the respondent was still unable to pay that amount. DAWASCO attributes some of these inaccuracies to old meters (C. Luhemeja, personal communication, 3 November 2017). Several respondents noted that after they received new meters their bills decreased, but meter replacements appear to be at the request of the customer rather than a large-scale repair programme. A solution advocated by several respondents is a prepaid water service. Electricity and mobile phones in Dar es Salaam operate in this way, with customers buying credit that decreases with usage. Once the credit is depleted, there is no more service until it is recharged. Some respondents see this prepaid system as a way both to eliminate inaccurate meter readings and to monitor and regulate household usage better. Several towns in Tanzania have implemented this system, but it has not yet reached Dar es Salaam (EWURA, 2017).