According to a report in The Sunday Mail, ZESA, through its subsidiary ZETDC has so far installed 568,554 prepaid meters and 38,550 smart meters and has met its targets for the current phase of meter rollout. It has set a target of 800,000 prepaid meters and 140,000 meters by 2018.
Smart meters, unlike the standard prepaid meters, are equipped with a Meter Data Management System and allow the utility company to communicate with the user’s unit. This allows for remote management of accounts.
Zimbabwe adopted prepaid metering as a way of dealing with the challenges of bill collection which deprived the power utility of over $1 billion in revenue which is essential for the management of local facilities and the importation of electricity from neighbouring countries like South Africa.
TechZim