Prepaid power text system gets off the ground

Local and foreign firms are looking to jointly offer a text message-based system for electric cooperatives and distribution utilities that will implement the planned prepaid electricity scheme.

In a statement, local firm Xesi Energy Systems Inc. (XESI) and Julong Electric Power Co. of Shanghai said they had pilot-tested in 10 electric cooperatives the XESI Pre-paid Kuryentext—a system they developed with Symstream of Australia, Wireless Services Asia and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

With this system, an electric meter can be reloaded from any location via mobile text messages.

XESI president and chief executive officer Ariel Dela Cruz said that the results of the pilot tests had been “positive” and that the acceptance rate was even “remarkably high,” prompting the Batangas Electric Cooperative 1 to file its Prepaid Retail Electric Service (PRES) license with the Energy Regulatory Commission—said to be the first in the industry.

This text service is said to be secure as it comes with adequate safeguards in user IDs and passwords; reliable with safeguard mechanisms even in times of disaster or emergencies; efficient as the residential use can manage his use of electricity.

“The tracking of consumption in 30-minute intervals allows the consumer to make ‘demand side management’ decisions, i.e., he can start switching down consumption as his credit is diminished, leading to a more prudent use of electricity,” Dela Cruz said.

“Also, the real time tracking of transactions leaves an audit trail that will be helpful in case of consumer complaints or conflicts with utilities,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the groups’ recent meeting at the Department of Energy, Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia M. Asirit noted the benefits of the prepaid system to electric cooperative plagued by perennial collection problems.

“This is perfect for co-ops with collection efficiency concerns,” the statement quoted Asirit as saying.

The prepaid retail electricity service is one of the innovations introduced earlier by the ERC so that consumers can have more control over their electricity bills.

Under the prepaid meter scheme, subscribers can monitor their electricity consumption in real time while their meter systems could warn them if and when the load is nearing zero to avoid automatic disconnection.

The companies expect that a joint technical committee between government and the industry will be constituted to thresh out possible wrinkles in the implementation of prepaid electricity scheme, after a meeting with ERC Commissioner Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc.

In their discussion, Taruc reportedly cited this proposed working committee as the ideal venue for balancing consumer and utility interests when the new retail and electricity supply systems are put in place.

“The consumers have to be fully apprised and informed of how the prepaid system will work to their benefit, without sacrificing the quality and reliability of the service provided by the utility,” Taruc said.