Debre Markos University

College of Technology

A Research Proposal
on
INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING
AND DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

BY
Engidaw Abel (M.sc.) & Heruy Mulugeta(B.Sc.)
( Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)

July 2017
Debre Markos, Ethiopia
 INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background of the study ............................................................................................ 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 2
1.3 objective of the study ................................................................................................. 3
1.3.1 General Objective ............................................................................................... 3
1.3.2 Specific Objective ............................................................................................... 3
1.4 Expected Outcomes .................................................................................................... 3
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 4
3. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS ........................................................................... 8
3.1 General Procedure ...................................................................................................... 8
3.2 Materials and tools ..................................................................................................... 9
4. RESEARCH BUDGET (COST BREAKDOWN) .......................................................... 10
5. TIME PLAN(SCHEDULE) ............................................................................................ 11
6. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 12
INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Electrical power has become indispensable to human survival and progress. Apart from efforts
to meet growing demand, automation in the energy distribution is also necessary to enhance
peoples life standard [1]. In electric power distribution system, the utility company and the
customer meet at a point called electric energy meter locally calledQotari. Traditionally, in
Ethiopia, electricity meter reading is accomplished by human operator, which makes it difficult
to meet the future residential development needs.

Collection of meter readings is also inefficient, because a meter reader has to physically be
onsite to take the readings. This method of collecting meter readings becomes more
problematic and costly when readings have to be collected from vast, and often scattered rural
areas. Meter readers are reluctant to make the effort to travel to such areas and will often submit
inaccurate estimations of the amount of electricity consumed. For households at the top of high
buildings and luxury housing plots, traditional meter reading is highly inefficient. There exists
chance for missing bills, absence of consumer(if energy meter is located indoor) etc.. Even
though conventional electromechanical meters were replaced with more efficient electronic
energy meters these problems still persist [1].
As a result payments made by same customer largely varies from month to month without
much difference in actual energy consumption. This variation is the result of late meter
readings that brings about high multiplier of energy units when calculating the bill, which
results in unfair charges against the customer because of the fault of the EEU.
The electric energy tarrif depends on the amount of meter readings for residential and
commerical customers and time of the day for MV and HV industries.
Therefore, for residential and commercial customers, if the meter reading is not taken for each
month correctly, it adds up with the next month reading which results in the next higher tarrif
category when calculating the bills. For example, for a customer whose average energy
consumption is 200 kWh/month, if the reading is taken correctly for each month, the maximum
tarrif is ETB 0.4993/kWh and at the end of the month the bill will be 81.4 ETB/month without
including the fixed charges. However, if the reading is not taken for three previous consecutive

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 INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

months, at the end of the fourth month the maximum tarrif will be ETB 0.60943/kWh and
therefore the bill increases to 108.70 ETB/month with an increase in 33.5%.
Moreover, the actual readings of meters and the value put in the bills are usually not the same
at the end of each billing period.
The problem worsens when the house which belongs to a particular energy meter is for renting.
The bill for the first person who rents the house may not be collected correctly, and therfrore,
the reading will be collected after three or four months, in the mean time the renter may leave
that house, and the cost comes against the house owner or the new renter who did not actually
use the energy.
Therefore,to solve such problems, a new method of post paid electronic energy metering is
needed which will automatically sense the used energy, records these reading continuously,
then sends it to the billing point and to the customer(for notification of energy consumed and
the date of paying bills) through the existing GSM network. Finally after processing the
collected data, bill is generated using a desktop based application software and is sent back to
the customer as SMS (Short Messaging System). If the customer does not pay the calculated
amount of bill within the specified time, the system shutsdown the customer load automatically
without requiring to travel to the customer location, and establishes the connection when the
bill is paid.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Ethiopia is a developing country with most of its people having no access to electric energy.
Although the energy access is very low, the customers having energy access are also heard
complaining on different issues raised against the electricity service providing company called
Ethiopian Electric Utility(EEU). Some customers feel cheated by the EEU workers, others
still complain that the EEU is not providing genuine service. Most of these and other
complaints are the result of late energy meter reading as the meter readings are not taken just
at the end of the month. The payments against the customers for electric energy usage is very
low sometimes, but very high later resulting in confusion and complaints.

Even though, the EEU workers who are responsible for energy meter reading are expected to
take readings every month, they usually do not do this, instead they take the reading after two
or three months or they make rough estimations. This practice brings high energy tarrif
multiplier to the energy reading and late income collection to the EEU. Consequently, the

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 INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

customers are made to pay high energy costs and feel confused which inturn brings complaints
against the EEU.

Therfore, this research is going to find out the economic impact of late energy meter reading
on both the customers and the EEU, and develop a smart energy metering and billing system
,which enables the EEU collect bills everymonth, to be proposed to the Ethiopian Electric
Untility to use it in the future.

1.3 objective of the study

1.3.1 General Objective
The main aim of this study is to find out the economic impact of late energy meter reading on
the electric energy customers and EEU; and to come up with a technological solution.

1.3.2 Specific Objective

i) To quantify unfair energy charges paid by customers because of late energy reading
ii) To quantify the income which is not collected on time by the EEU because of late
energy meter reading
iii) To design and simulate an automatic smart energy meter (AMR)
iv) To build a AMR prototype
v) To propose the AMR to th EEU

1.4 Expected Outcomes

This research work will probably benefit the whole Ethiopia where most of the electric energy
customers are charged unfairly. It also helps the EEU to collect its income every month with
out getting much compalins against the company. The research will hopefully bring better
governance to the EEU office and increased customer satisfaction.

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Over the past years electric energy meters have undergone phenomenal changes and are
expected to become even more sophisticated , offering more and more services.
The electromechanical based energy meters are rapidly being replaced by digital energy meters
which offer high accuracy and precision.

In order to overcome the problems of the existing traditional meter reading system , efforts are
underway around the world to automate the meter reading systems and to provide
comprehensive information to the consumer for efficient use of utilities.

Researchers have proposed different implementation techniques for automatic energy meter
reading systems.

Ashna K. [1] proposed a system which replaces traditional meter reading methods and enables
remote access of existing energy meter by the energy provider. A GSM based wireless
communication module is integrated with electronic energy meter of each entity to have remote
access over the usage of electricity. A PC with a GSM receiver at the other end, which contains
the database acts as the billing point. Live meter reading from the GSM enabled energy meter
is sent back to this billing point periodically and these details are updated in a central database.
A new interactive, user friendly graphical user interface is developed using Microsoft visual
studio .NET framework and C#. With proper authentication, users can access the developed
web page details from anywhere in the world. The complete monthly usage and due bill is
messaged back to the customer after processing these data.
Anand [2] proposed a system which consists of GSM digital power meter installed in every
consumer unit. A GSM modem is connected to the energy meter. Each modem will be having
its own SIM. The SIM card used is implemented in energy meter and it sends a message to the
user about the due bill. A LCD is used in the hardware module for the user interface. The LCD
displays the current usage and units consumed. Here the system operates in two modes. First
mode is depends up on the time and the second mode is depends up on the usage of power. For
every 30 days the information is sent to the electricity board office regarding the units by using
GSM. The user can pay the amount just by knowing the given code which is fed in the meter.
If that consumer does not pay the bill then from the EB(ELECTRICITY BOARD) office the
power is switched off. `After paying the bill the power is connected to that consumer by

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 INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

sending a command from the EB(ELECTRICITY BOARD) office. If in case the required units
usages have achieved within 30 days then the power will be shut down and immediately.
Aswathy P.R [3] proposed energy metering system which consists of energy meter,
communication using ethernet and webserver. A single phase energy meter has been
implemented using ARDUINO microcontroller and communication part has been
implemented using Ethernet communication. Server and consumer end are implemented in
webserver.This meter is able to measure energy and will communicate the data to the electricity
board, which stores the information and notify the consumer through SMS messages.
Mejbaul Haque [4] presents a single phase digital prepaid energy meter based on two
microcontrollers and a single phase energy meter IC. This digital prepaid energy meter does
not have any rotating parts. The energy consumption is calculated using the output pulses of
the energy meter chip and the internal counter of microcontroller (ATmega32). A
microcontroller (ATtiny13) is used as a smart card and the numbers of units recharged by the
consumers are written in it. A relay system has been used which either isolates or establishes
the connection between the electrical load and energy meter through the supply mains
depending upon the units present in the smart card.Energy consumption (kWh), maximum
demand (kW), total unit recharged (kWh) and rest of the units (kWh) are stored in the
ATmega32 to ensure the accurate measurement even in the event of an electrical power outage
that can be easily read from a 204 LCD. As soon as the supply is restored, energy meter
restarts with the stored values. A single phase prepaid energy meter prototype has been
implemented to provide measurement up to 40A load current and 230V line to neutral
voltage.Necessary program for microcontrollers are written in c-language and compiled by
Win-AVR libc compiler.
Rohit Upadhyay [5] developed a cost effective novel single phase digital energy meter with
the help of an Automatic Remote Metering(ARM) based microcontroller which is capable of
calculating true values of active, reactive and apparent power, power factor, Total Harmonic
Distortion (THD) and energy consumed. The designed meter is simple, portable and easily
reconfigurable according to specific needs. The parameters calculated are transmitted to the
billing station through wired means of communication thus eliminating the need for the utility
personnel to visit each home individually for noting the meter readings/generating the bill.
This data gets logged in and is used for generating bills and can also be used for analysis in

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

order to improve the power quality and understand the load and usage pattern. The detailed bill
generated can be mailed to the customers Email ID and minimal information extracted from
this bill can be sent to the users registered mobile number automatically via SMS.
Amruta kotasthane [6] designed and implemented wireless sensor network for measuring
utilities such as electricity, water. The system is designed using electric meter, flow sensor for
measuring utilities, ARM controller LPC2138 as core processor, and ZigBee module in close
communication with GSM for distant communication. This system performs tasks such as
taking meter reading, distribution of bills, sending notice, cutting and reconnection of flow
automatically. This model can lead to great deal of costs saving in water and electricity
metering.
A.A.Noman [7] developed android based smart energy meter which enables all parameters to
be observed easily. The important features of this system are its mobility, low cost, easy to
maintenance and monitoring the total system. The process is started with the main 220V AC
line that is delivered from power line. Line voltage and current are measured by a voltage and
a current sensor. These sensors are connected with the microcontroller and they will measure
current with respect to a load. Then active power, reactive power and apparent power can be
calculated using different mathematical equations of the system. The measured data will be
displayed in LCD and transmitted to the android device via Bluetooth module and it will be
sent to the android device.
K.Sheelasobanarani [8] demonstrated the use of prepaid energy meter system by using Proteus
8 simulation software. The major components used are PIC microcontroller, Voltage and
Current transformer, LCD, relay and a load.
W.D.A.S. Rodrigo [9] designed and implemented a digital prepaid energy meter which is
affordable for domestic consumers in a developing country like Sri Lanka. The prepaid energy
meter described is a single phase 230V/40A energy meter which consist of a metering device
designed according to the IEC1036 (1996-09) standard and a prepaid module that uses
GSM/GPRS technology to communicate with the utility server.
Sneha Salunkhe [10] proposed a processing flow which captures the image of meter readings
by using camera, captured image is pre-processed and characters are recognized by processor
using contour algorithm, billing is done by taking difference between two readings of

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

consecutive months and send it to the respective server for documentation using wireless
technology.
Having reviewed all the above literatures, this research first will findout how much it is relevant
to use automatic energy meter reading systems from economical and customer satisfaction
point of view. Then an automatic energy meter system will be dveloped with the following
features inside.
i. Calculates the energy consumption of the customer
ii. Stores the energy consumption for a month
iii. Sends the energy consumed in kWh to the EEU on request
iv. Notifies the customer for paying bill
v. Sends an SMS alert for the customer when the power consumption is
abnormal(unusual)
vi. Disconnects the load remotely if the payment time is not performed with in time
and connects the load back whenever payment is done.

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

3. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS

3.1 General Procedure

sample bill data

sample meter readings
Data
Collection

finding the average cost incurred by the customer

Analysis

design of the proposed system which can solve the

AMR system problem
design

model the system using appropriate software

modeling development of customer database using C#
and test the designed system using simulation
simulation

build the prototype using hardware components

prototype test the prototype
developemnt

research report preparation

writing up finalization the finance issues
the research

discussion to the EEU how to disseminate the

disseminatio product to the its customers
n

Figure 1 general procedure of the study

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 INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

3.2 Materials and tools

The following materials are required to build automatic energy meter reading system:
Table 1. List of materilas

No. Materials description No. Materials description

1 Arduino microcontroller 8 Relay/contactor
2 GSM modem 9 LCD display
3 Electrolytic Capacitors 10 Energy meter
4 Resistors 11 Light dependent resistor(LDR)
5 Voltage Regulator 12 RS-232
6 Diodes 13 Circuit construction board
7 Transistors 14 Transformer
Moreover, the follwing software tools are required to accomplish the project.

a. Proteus professional software for design and simulation

b. C# for data base development
c. Microsoft excel for economic impact analysis

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

4. RESEARCH BUDGET (COST BREAKDOWN)

Table 2.material cost

No. Item list Measurement Quantity Unit Price Total Price

Unit (ETB) (ETB)
1 Arduino PCs 3.0 1500.0 4500.00
Microcontroller
2 GSM Modem PCs 3.0 1500.0 4500.00
3 Transformer PCs 2.0 100.0 200.00
4 LCD display PCs 3.0 50.0 150.00
5 Diodes PCs 16.0 15.0 240.00
6 Electrolyte Capacitors PCs 10.0 50.0 500.00
7 Resistors PCs 15.0 20.0 300.00
8 Transistors PCs 15.0 50.0 750.00
9 Energy Meter PCs 1.0 3000.0 3000.00
10 LED PCs 20.0 5.0 100.00
11 Voltage regulator PCs 8.0 200.0 1600.00
12 light dependent PCs 4.0 50.0 200.00
resistor
13 RS-232 PCs 4.0 200.0 800.00
14 circuit construction PCS 4.0 100.0 400.00
board
Subtotal (ETB)
17,240.00

Table 3.logistics costs

No Cost category Measurement Quantity Unit Cost Total cost

. unit (ETB) (ETB)
1 data collection Days 30 100 3000.00
2 Perdiem for trip days 15 200 3000.00
for
material purchase
3 Transport trips 8 200 1600.00
4 Miscellaneous 2500
subtotal 10100.00
Total cost
27,340.00

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INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

5. SCHEDULE
Table 4.Research schedule

Months (2010 EC)

No.
Activity Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.
1 Data collection
2 Data analysis
3 System design
Modeling and
4 simulation
5 Material Purchase
6 Prototype developemnt
7 Testing and finalizing
8 writing up

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DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION

6. REFERENCES

[1] K.Ashna, "GSM based automatic energy meter reading," IEEE, pp. 65-71, March 2013.

[2] Anand, "Energy meter reading initiator using ATMEGA328," International Journal of
Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technology, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 173-177,
April 2016.

[3] P. Aswathy, "An Automated Energy Metering System," International Journal of

Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, vol. 3,
no. 3, pp. 8064-8069, March 2014.

[4] M. Haque, "Microcontroller Based Single Phase Digital Prepaid Energy Meter for
improved metering and billing system," International Journal of Power Electronics and
Drive System (IJPEDS), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 139-147, 2011.

[5] R. Upadhyay, "ARM based smart single phase energy meter with automatic bill
generation and SMS alert," International Journal of Industrial Electronics and Electrical
Engineering, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 179-185, July 2016.

[6] A. kotasthane, "Implementation of Automatic Meter Reading System Using Wireless

Sensor Network," International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering
& Technology (IJARCET), vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 3030-3032, 2013.

[7] A.A.Noman, "ANDROID BASED SMART ENERGY METER," in 4th National

Conference on Natural Science and Technology, Asian University for Woman,
Chittagong, Bangladesh, March 2017.

[8] K.Sheelasobanarani, " An integrated prepaid energy meter using GSM," International
Journal of Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 5-7, May
2014.

[9] W. Rodrigo, "A prepaid energy meter using GPRS/GSM Technology for improved
metering and billing," International Journal of Computer Science and Electronics
Engineering (IJCSEE), vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 64-69, 2016.

[10] S. Salunkhe, "A Review: Automatic meter reading using image processing,"
International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management
(IJAIEM), vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 68-70, 2016.

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