In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency’s online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday. Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday.

— The Editors

NoCot power firm shifts to smart meter reading technology

By John Andrew Tabugoc

December 20, 2022, 6:34 pm

<p><strong>NEW TECH.</strong> Personnel of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) Inc. verifies the uninstalled meters after the massive replacement of meters in its pilot area in Barangay Poblacion, Kidapawan City on Tuesday (Dec. 20, 2022). The power firm is set to replace the old meters with new automated meter reading devices.<em>  (Photo courtesy of Cotelco)</em></p>

NEW TECH. Personnel of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) Inc. verifies the uninstalled meters after the massive replacement of meters in its pilot area in Barangay Poblacion, Kidapawan City on Tuesday (Dec. 20, 2022). The power firm is set to replace the old meters with new automated meter reading devices.  (Photo courtesy of Cotelco)

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – The Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) Incorporated kick-off here Tuesday the first phase of adopting automated meter reading devices in replacing the old kilowatt meter apparatus to Radio Frequency (RF)-ready indicators in the province.

Engr. Michael Mordeno, Cotelco technical manager, said the new RF-ready kilowatt meters are capable of sending wireless accurate and real-time figures to the data center on the scheduled reading period which could eliminate errors and delays encountered on the on-site meter reading.

“Of course, this is due to some circumstances along the way considering the weather condition and the distance”, he explained.

The innovation is also in accordance with the Department of Energy’s roadmap for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a system that consists of smart meters and networks that facilitates measuring, collecting, and analyzing energy usage.

Smart meters allow for better monitoring of utility usage by customers and more efficient delivery of utilities.

In addition, Mordeno AMIs provide utility providers and customers with better functionality than traditional metering infrastructures.

The estimated 700 households in Sandawa Phase 1, 2, 3, and 4 here, which is the largest subdivision in the entire COTELCO coverage area, were chosen as the pilot area for the initial implementation of the project.

“We have initially replaced some 300 old kWh meters to RF-ready meters in the area which will continue until all residential kWh meters will be replaced,” Mordeno said.

Under the scheme, the RF-ready kWh meters will be sending data to the installed ‘data collector’ facility that will relay the information to the data center, where collected data will be printed to be delivered to each household.

Currently, the innovation is only applicable to all residential consumers because commercial establishments are scheduled after the full completion of the project.

“This warrants that we can keep up with the fast-changing innovations for efficient and reliable services to our member-consumers,” Mordeno said. (PNA)

Comments