LESCO Announces Deadline for Smart Meters in Lahore

The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) plans to transition its entire Lahore region, encompassing 6.7 million electricity consumers, to an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) by 2029. Efforts are currently underway to align Lesco’s departments for this transformation.

Simultaneously, the installation of smart meters for three-phase connections has commenced, paving the way for all three-phase domestic, commercial, and industrial connections to shift to the new metering system. Lesco CEO Shahid Haider shared these updates with Dawn on Sunday.

“With 6.7 million connections, mostly domestic, it’s impractical to complete this transition in a short period. We require at least five years to shift the entire Lesco region to smart meters, eliminating issues like overbilling by 2029,” Mr. Haider explained.

So far, Lesco has replaced over 60,000 meters with smart meters at small industries and tube wells, with another 56,000 connections slated for replacement shortly. Starting July 1, 2024, AMI meters will be installed for all domestic three-phase connections.

In 2018, Lesco expanded its smart metering project after a successful pilot involving 18,000 meters in areas such as Faizpur, Rachna Town, Bilal Ganj, and Taj Bagh. The project enables consumers to monitor real-time meter readings on an hourly basis while allowing Lesco to automatically receive and process monthly readings. This minimizes errors and eliminates the need for manual readings, reducing corruption risks like overbilling and tampering.

Under an Asian Development Bank grant, Lesco will receive 131,000 smart meters, enabling the replacement of over 35,000 domestic connections in the coming months. The shortage of single-phase meters has been addressed, with meters for 19,000 new connections and 30,000 replacements already distributed. An additional 80,000 meters are expected to be delivered this week, with 300,000 out of a total order of 750,000 arriving by month-end. Procurement of single-phase smart meters is also underway, with tenders to be issued soon.

Customer Service Modernization
Lesco has established two new Customer Service Centers in Lahore, located in the Second and Fifth Circles, to provide centralized assistance for consumers. These centers, set to be officially inaugurated this month, will eliminate the need for residents in these areas to visit the headquarters for services such as bill corrections, installment plans, and payment extensions.

During a visit to the new centers, Mr. Haider emphasized that public service is Lesco’s top priority, and all resources will be utilized to ensure high-quality customer support. Trained staff meeting international standards will be deployed to deliver efficient service.