PrePaid Meter

Approximately 2 months ago I saw prepaid kWh meters are installed at some new houses in a housing estate near my home in Bogor. I was quite surprised that PLN did it since, as far as I know, PLN still in pilot testing phase for those kind of meters. the meters are installed at houses that are still constructed. I guess that was intended to secure the electricity payment by housing estate developer during the construction. The already inhabited houses (new ones) use normal kWh meter (not prepaid). According to the brick layers that are working in those houses, their foreman has to go to the bank to get electricity "credits" that later are charged into the meter by putting in codes. I did not see any external MCB, that usually accompany normal kWh meters. this meter should not be unlimited (by MCB) because basically it will make the power planning difficult for PLN.

searching the internet, I found that since 2005 PLN already started using prepaid kWh meters in Bali. Bali is the first because there are many houses or villas without are empty without any people staying. to avoid bad cash flow, off course, this prepaid system is very rational. After Bali, PLN then made the pilot projects in Jakarta and Tangerang area. In 2007 people in the thousand islands are equipped with prepaid kWh meter and starting 2009 the "land" customers have the chance to use this prepaid system also. According to the sources in the Internet there are now approximately 27.000 customers of PLN using prepaid system. PLN now limits the prepaid connection up to only 5.500 VA. This means the kWh meter system has a limiting device. I guess it can be electronically programmed to exactly trip when the current is reaching certain level.

I found this prepaid system both interesting and practical. It is interesting because it is new and opens many possibilities for privacy, flexible payment, and no penalties for late payment. there is no validity limit on the credits (not like most prepaid GSM systems). One still can use the 2 years old credit. This is great. It is practical because one can and have to manage his electricity consumption wisely. For budget limited families, this can be a useful solution. For example: one family only allocate IDR 50.000 per month for electricity. By adjusting power usage, this target can be achieved. One can buy the credits everywhere such as in banks, ATM, or directly to nearest PLN service points. However the lowest credit one can buy is IDR 100.000, but this can be used more than 1 month if a family uses electricity conservatively.

However there is one thing in my mind that is so far unanswered: the tariff. I guess the tariff still follows the national tariff now. Therefore tariff below and above 60 kWh will be different. What about the connection fee or the subscription fee? Is there any subscription fee? Is there any grace period, after the credit finish, before someone has the chance to recharge the credit? Does it temper proof? Are there any possibilities for someone to hack the system? PLN once said that this meter system will make their work easier since it is not needed to check the stand of the meter. But if rarely checked then there might be people trying to bypass the meter and tap the electricity directly from the connection cables.

The prepaid meter opens many opportunities both positive or negative. Now it’s time to prove the performance of the system and also it’s realibility.