Malaysia’s own Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is poised to introduce a smart meter system that will allow consumers to keep track of their overall electricity usage. Though the project is still in its early stages, the system will most likely see nationwide availability in 2016 if the current ongoing pilot project is successful.
Tenaga Nasional claims that the smart meter could help settle disputes and disagreements between the consumer and the power companies over consumers’ monthly electricity bill. This will be possible thanks to its built-in feature which shows real-time statistics of electricity usage in the user’s home so that they can be more wary of their energy usage. This also means that electric utility companies can charge users fairly, as there will be no discrepancies to dispute.
More importantly, consumers will be able to monitor their own electricity usage and plan wisely so as not to exceed set thresholds. Consumers can do this by monitoring a home display unit which details vital information such as the overall cost of using electric appliances such as a kettle, fridge, or air conditioner over a given period of time.
TNB Distribution Division Senior General Manager, Kamaliah Abdul Kadir, said that the entire project was driven by the idea of enhancing sustainable energy amongst Malaysians as well as encouraging users to be more efficient with their monthly electricity usage. Currently, a pilot project involving 85 homes in Malacca is currently ongoing, allowing TNB to gain valuable insights and feedback from consumers on the smart meter project.
It will definitely be interesting to see how this idea pans out if it is rolled out in the future. Perhaps in the future, users of the smart meter system may even be able to monitor their electricity usage on other platforms such as an app on smartphones and tablets, which would definitely play well with smart homes of the future.
[Source: The Star]
