Technology tackling power pilferage, overbilling in Peshawar

CISNR project director says line losses believed to cause a huge impact on the national economy

PESHAWAR: Technology is supposed to help tackle your key problems and solve them. Two technology startups are doing just that in Peshawar to curb power theft and stop under and overbilling.

These two technology solutions to the power problem were showcased during a seminar at the Centre for Intelligent Systems and Networks Research (CISNR) of University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Peshawar on Thursday.



CISNR Project Director Dr Gul Muhammad said that the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), CISNR, UET Peshawar have successfully executed two projects, including "Electrocure” installed in Rahatabad to detect and curb instances of electricity theft and "Meterocure", installed in Hayatabad subdivision to improve the billing efficiency and eliminate instances of over and under billing and curb billing anomalies.

Financial support for the two projects was provided by the Ministry of Information Communication Technology via its research and development wing.

Describing benefits of Electrocure, Muhammad said that it helps provide real-time monitoring, meter-less infrastructure, theft-proof smart metering, efficient energy and cost management.

While no statistics were available on demand and supply of electricity and line losses, they nevertheless are believed to cause a huge impact on the national economy.



The major reasons, he said, included lack of information and awareness among consumers regarding available innovative solutions and outdated infrastructure.

Senator Noman Wazir Khattak, who is the convener of the Senate Standing Committee on Power, appreciated the efforts of CISNR and said that the government would take all measures to provide support to the academia to establish strong linkages with industry.

He said that cheap electricity supply to the locals was the right of residents of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for having a location advantage.

He urged the engineering students to come up with innovative solutions towards mitigating electricity theft, line loss and find cost-effective solutions for the society.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2018.