By Jaideep Singh
The sense of awareness within the consumers has also created a shift in their demand for real-time information both by the Utility and the end consumer. It is the right of the Pre-Paid consumer to know and the Utility’s scope to provide in real time the actuals on their energy consumption v/s credit balance, drawing similarities with services offered by the UPI’s Banks, Chat GPT, WhatsApp, Google Map etc, just to name a few, for which alerts and data are all in real time basis, allowing consumers to be more proactive in taking informed decisions.
The need for high frequency granular data availability being acquired in near real time i.e. data to be acquired in definitive fixed successive quick minimum intervals i.e. at faster sampling rates, so that the smallest changes are picked up in the shortest time interval. Thus, the use of AI and ML for building such intelligence in the NIC through learned behaviour and analytics in the power distribution sector is the need of the hour to keep pace with the cycle of innovative technological evolutions.
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UPERC in their recent order for the review and approval of the ARR and Tariff for various state DISCOMs FY 23-24 have under their clause 3.19.15 “Commissions View” have clearly directed the petitioners to ensure installation of smart meters with features of Real Time monitoring enabling real time audits, demand side management, detection of theft, P2P energy trade etc with an overall objective to help reduce the AT&C losses of the DISCOMs and to bring the ACS and ARR gap closer to zero.
Additionally, for the data and monitoring to be done in Real Time, the weakest link, the communication, must be 24×7 and thus strengthened. The need to overcome the poor signal strength and poor network coverage, there is a growing demand for Dual SIM for allowing seamless autonomous switchover between 2 SIMs of two separate TSP’s or swapping NIC module from cellular to RF to overcome such typical field conditions.
The development and designs of such NIC should be defined by the Competent Authority in order to have zero interoperability and other issues of non-communication during the AMI-SP deployment.
Enhanced Cyber Security and Real Time Data Integration
Sources of cyber-attacks are diverse and evolving and the impact of these attacks against critical infrastructure can be particularly damaging due to the ripple effect on society, ranging from the theft of personal user data to bringing down utilities’ critical distribution and utilisation system components or even causing physical damage to people and properties.
Utility companies and State DISCOMs need to take several security and privacy considerations into account to realise a secure and privacy-preserving smart grid, including protecting the integrity of the device(s) installed at the consumer side, proofing and protecting the integrity of data sent between the consumer premises and the utility, authenticating the identities of the parties in communication, concealing the data in transit between the consumer devices and the utility and ensuring authorised access to the consumer data stored at the utility side.
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Cyber security breaches manifest in the form of malicious actors and eavesdroppers intruding the weakest link, which in the AMI-SP scenario is the smart meter itself and the data being transmitted at the HES/MDM layer.
The attack can manipulate the utility by injecting fake data of consumption, peak load data, voltage, frequency and also take control to run commands like connect and disconnect, disrupting the network through cascading effects etc. These threats may also give erroneous readings at the consumer end as well. There are also known possibilities where external attacks have managed to clone the telecom service provider network and taken control of the latched devices.
Thus, continuous data capture in real time provides a comprehensive view of power network activity, user behaviour in real time and helps in spotting a suspicious pattern or anomaly that could indicate a developing cyber-attack early on.
However, in the present scheme of AMI-SP deployments, the data blocks of 15 min block every 8 hours or once in 24 hours creates vulnerability. This compromises and may cripple the entire AMI ecosystem where such provisioning is not mandated. These are colossal risks both physical and fiscal in nature.
The best way to prevent malicious attacks on the network and on the physical hardware is through the use of Intelligent NIC with embedded Real Time anomaly detection system that keeps a constant Real Time check on the deviations in values and disallowing or allowing any false positives being generated erroneously.
Building Consumer Confidence with Real Time Data Integration – Check Meters
It has been observed that the check meters are provided to gain end consumer confidence and also help in keeping a strict vigil on the AMI-SP and their vendors for the purpose of maintaining the accuracy provided through quality products and services, helping accelerate the AMI-SP metering drive and garnering public support for the roll-out of the scheme.
The drive focuses on installation of the check meter only, whilst the AMI-SP is installing the entire IT infrastructure to extract meter readings and perform the billing functions, hence the process of check meters in isolation may not give the correct perspective and is open to manipulation. These check meters are being integrated to the same HES/MDM while being deployed.
Since the Pre-Paid systems are an end to end solution which also include the consumption v/s credit balance values and amounts in rupees, the accuracy and calculation of the monies deducted also becomes a great concern to the consumers. This fails to get addressed as the HES/MDM layer, which finally does the computing for charge, recharge, credit balance v/s the consumption as per the tariff structure, is the same which has been deployed by the AMI-SP.
Thus, for all practical purposes and validation, the use and existence of a separate HES/MDM for the check meter and meter test benches, integrated to the ERP billing system of the DISCOMs by introducing the “Maker and Checker” for accountability.
This will ensure a true comparison, demonstrating transparency and a genuine confidence-building measure by the DISCOM. With clear directives, to help dispel any confusion between the DISCOM and the end consumers, this will finally help in achieving success of the AMI-SP project roll-outs across the country.
Impact and Conclusion
Thus, the omissions, ignorance and inordinate oversight of the minute nuances may become a roadblock for the envisaged success of the AMI-SP RDSS Smart Meter programme launched under the DBFOOT 10-year model for 250 million nodes and counting.
The fiscal prudence of the scheme lies in the proper utilisation of the funds provided and the adoption of the best practices to ensure improvement in reduction of the AT&C losses, ACS-ARR gap zero, quality, reliability and affordability of the power supplied to all the consumers.
The need and importance of interoperability, Real Time data monitoring and its analysis must be emphasised to ensure 24×7 monitoring of the actual real time health of the distribution network and conduct accurate predictive analysis of the consumption, demand forecast, preventive O&M, energy trading etc.
Thus, a more meticulous, careful and cautious intervention at this stage would help mitigate risks in the future of the Smart Metering journey, which today is staged at a juncture of being perilous and arduous.
The author is Advisor, Strategy & Stake Holder Engagement, Radius Synergies International. Views are personal.
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