Unified smart meters to be mainstay in five years

All water and electricity meters will be replaced with the new unified smart system within five years, said USMS Sdn Bhd Manager Ronald Liew. “The old system of using power cards looks set to be phased out within that time,” he said.

In an interview with the Bulletin, Liew said the Unified Smart Metering System (USMS), a government initiated project, will benefit users by providing “clear visibility” of their usage with real-time information of their credit balance.

Users can also view their top up history, enabling them to better manage and track their utility consumption, he said.

“The smart meter can also detect water leakage within the house compound,” said Liew, adding that the smart meter will show leakages within days, based on the household’s usage statistics. “This helps customers save on excessive water bills,” he added.

Technical Manager Cheong Wai Kheong said the public can check their usage of water and electricity on the USMS selfcare web portal or app. Usage can be viewed as an hourly, daily or monthly statistic.

Cheong said top ups in the new system “can be done online using debit or credit card as compared to the previous system of using tokens for electricity,” adding the public will have the convenience of topping up anytime and anywhere.

Business Assistant Operation Manager Dayangku Jamelah Pengiran Serjuddin said customers must top up electricity and water meters within 72 hours of account activation to prevent disconnection of services.

Electricity and water are separate accounts, she said, however if the water account shows negative credit balance for 48 hours, the balance will be deducted from the available electric credit balance.

USMS have made public assurances that glitches to the software or outages of the smart meters will not affect the flow of water and electricity supply, However users will not be able to top up until the system is restored, said the company.

Source : Borneo Bulletin