Filenews 4 January 2025 - by Charalambos Zakos
After 5 years of the decision and through labyrinthine procedures, with appeals, cancellations of tenders, appeals and changes in legislation, smart meters are ready to be installed in the first households within January 2025.
In fact, EAC has already sent a relevant information leaflet along with electricity bills, through which it informs consumers about the new era and the transition from conventional to smart meter.
The first smart meters will be installed by the end of the month, starting in urban areas, while, according to the latest plans, the replacement will be completed in 2028, with the installation of 500,000 smart meters by then.
The €35 million was not lost.
The major concern for the state, EAC and consumers was the risk of losing the €35 million funding from the Recovery Fund for the purchase of smart meters in case of further delays. However, through the efforts made and the change of timetables, which were finally accepted, funding was secured.
More specifically, the cost amounts to approximately €50 million, of which €35 million comes from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, while the remaining millions, related to installation costs, will be covered by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus from its reserves, since the offer concerned only the supply of smart meters by CYTA.
Through Afflictions
It is recalled that the installation of smart meters had turned into a serial, due to appeals, appeals, court battles, and even a change in legislation had been needed to award the tender.
It is also worth noting that the first smart meters were installed in 2016 to 3,000 consumers on the basis of the EAC pilot program, while based on initial plans by 2025 more than 400,000 smart meters would have been installed covering all consumers in Cyprus.
Finally the calculation – What are the benefits?
According to EAC, the benefits of using smart meters will be multiple.
In particular:
- the consumer will have direct information on electricity consumption on a daily basis, so that he can shape his energy behaviour in order to save energy and reduce the cost of the bill
-The utilization of advanced pricing systems by the various Electricity Suppliers will enable the consumer to save money, transferring electrical loads (e.g. washing machine, water heating, etc.) from peak to non-peak periods, where the cost of kilowatt-hour will be reduced
- electricity bills will be issued on time and accurately, according to actual consumption data and not calculated.
-It becomes easier to detect faults and faster to restore the electricity supply
-The possibility of prepayment of energy is provided, especially useful in premises rented to third parties for short periods of time - cases of electricity theft are prevented and detected.
They will also work on weekends
From January and for a period of three years, i.e. until 2028, when the works are expected to be completed, EAC crews, on a daily basis, including weekends, will work to replace existing conventional meters with smart meters in premises – residential, small commercial and industrial – which are invoiced on a bimonthly basis.
EAC will regularly inform the public about the area where its crews will be located, since the safe replacement of the meter requires interruption of the supply for a period not expected to exceed 20 minutes.
