Using prepayment for revenue assurance: Prepayment remote metering pilot project results Edison Makwarela                                                                

Presentation Layout History of prepayment in Eskom (SA) Current challenges Pilot Project Results of the Pilot Project Future direction

History of Prepayment in Eskom 1988 -"Electricity for All" concept developed. customers had to be supported by the smallest amount of Eskom personnel. system to operate with a low level of management and maintenance. the standard billed system required a lot of day-to day management to process accounts and to maintain connections and disconnections. many of the areas where potential customers reside had almost no infrastructure.

History of Prepayment in Eskom (continued) no fixed addresses, high unemployment, no bank accounts and no postal services many customers were illiterate and did not understand bills Eskom started the development of the basic prepayment system which is still in use today about 3 million prepaid meters installed to date in South Africa. increasing by 250 000 annually.

Challenges with current system ±3 million meters installed in Eskom after installation meters are never visited except: customer calls/maintenance for general audits (2-3 years cycle) tampered meters are not easily detected access to installed meters is not always possible no means of communicating with meters in the field cannot interrogate meters remotely cannot disable possible tampered meters

Challenges with current system (continued) high revenue losses in electrification projects need to communicate with meters remotely government enforced Electrification Programme continues average sales per customer per months ±R35 (±$6)

Remote Metering Options Considered Complete New system Establish remote communication with current installed meters Options current meters not faulty cost of new system huge current installed base return on investment compatibility with current standards Drivers

Business requirements develop a walk-by, non-intrusive, non-contact audit (extract/read data) system to collect and store data from prepaid meters technology developed to work with current meters* cost per unit should be as low as possible device must be replaceable without changing meter if it fails and visa-versa it must be relatively easy to install developed devices

Developed Technology - InfoPOD RF transceiver or InfoPOD MC171 Port data and tokens transfer meter interrogation trip meter remotely tamper detection connect RF transceiver to port one RF transceiver per meter short distance remote metering 100m Benefits

System Operation InfoPOD connected to meter trough MC171 port placed inside the meter base Master unit connected to HHU or Laptop

Field Trials Funding for Pilot was approved for 300 units. 2002: 5 prototype InfoPODs at Zonkizizwe tested ease of installation, effect of steel & concrete structures on communications. 2m distance, complex software on HHU, MC171 connector problems 2003: 5 new InfoPODs installed at Zonkizizwe. 47m distance, software user friendly, run on laptop presented results to Management. Funding for Pilot was approved for 300 units.

Objectives of the Pilot establish effective remote communication with prepaid meters read meters from the street (at a nominal distance of 50m). check if InfoPOD stores the correct date and time. check the effect of electromagnetic interference on detection range. determine effects of power loss on InfoPOD. verify data accuracy of sales & credit information stored on the InfoPOD.

Pilot Preparations -2004 selected areas with specific RF challenges tin houses radio interference potential tampering of meters interference from Hi-Tech devices installations limited to transformer zones to facilitate revenue loss calculation held meetings to informed customers about the project

Pilot Project Pilot Actuals Ideal Pilot Diepsloot = 67 units urban – tin/brick houses high revenue losses Mmakau = 71 units rural – tin houses radio base station-702MHz Ivory Park = 32 particular brand of meters Ideal Pilot expected to install 300 units for pilot 3 sites with 100 units each Challenges number of connections per-transformer zone customers not at home* tampered meters faulty meters incompatibility – proprietary meters Faulty InfoPODs

Results of Pilot the maximum distance from where an audit was conducted was 99 meters. the mean distance was 44 meters which allowed the users to read several meters from the street. a limiting factor - the 3 hour battery life of the laptop. takes 1.5 - 3 minutes to get data downloaded (depends on strength of signal) the mean time to install an InfoPOD was 10 minutes. could send all types of tokens to the meter from the street

Results of Pilot (continued) audited weekly or two weekly. two master units malfunction if used simultaneously within a 1km radius. InfoPod installed in Lab communication established from a max. distance of 79m lab is next to Eskom Control Centre (Grid)

Results: Revenue loss Reduction

Results: Normal Graph

Results: Normal Graph

Results: Tampered meter energy consumed time

Other Realised Benefits monitor the quality of supply by checking the frequency of trips at the meter. network planning - can show changes in customer’s energy consumption per transformer zone. revenue management - show the amount of credit purchased as well as the frequency of purchases correct non-standard tariffs in a fast non-intrusive.

Other Realised Benefits (Continued) trip meters and reset them from the street. can test meters by the standard dispenser test for maintenance reasons. can be integrated with online vending send credit to meters remotely with minor modifications to the InfoPOD

Future System

Concluding Remarks remote communication is expensive in SA pilot projects initiated to test future model 27 000 more units will be installed in 2005 in strategic townships all developments will adhere to STS prepayment remote metering is the future Municipalities in SA implementing the technology