The rollout of a digital electricity metering system has helped the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) mitigate problems related to its distribution network, commercial and billing systems and electricity theft, while enabling consumers to get faster solutions to their problems.
More than 1.2 million Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters have been installed in the Rawalpindi City Circle, Rawalpindi Cantonment Circle and Taxila Division, covering domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. The system has enabled Iesco to monitor the meters of customers, transformers and MV feeders in the respective areas.
Under the project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), AMI meters have been installed in Iesco circles.
The project was launched in 2016 after the ADB allocated $160 million for the AMI system. The project contract was signed in 2022 and work started in January 2023. Under the project, industrial units and consumers using more than 500KW of electricity were shifted to the AMI system.
“Due to the continuous monitoring of AMI meters installed across Rawalpindi, meter-tampering incidents have been reduced to only a few cases among approximately 1.2 million installed meters,” AMI Project Director Mohsin Raza Gillani said while talking to Dawn.
He said the level of real-time monitoring and control represented a pioneering initiative in the power distribution sector, significantly enhancing the detection, prevention and management of unauthorised meter interventions.
He said consumers could check their hourly electricity consumption, while the system enabled Iesco to monitor electricity fluctuations and resolve problems immediately.
“Overall, 99 percent physical progress has been achieved under the project. Key milestones include the successful installation of 1.2 million smart meters through mass rollout activities,” he said.
He said the Head End System (HES) was fully operational and live, while the integration and development of the billing system had also been substantially completed.
He said a control room had been established where meter data was stored, while a backend data centre had been established in Gujar Khan so that data could be recovered in case of any fault.
He said data was transferred from meters to the control room, with Iesco receiving information from AMI meters through Power Line Communication (PLC).
“The system will also allow consumers to get an idea about their electricity use and the expected bill through monitoring of electricity usage. It will automatically register complaints to the power company in case of any interruption in the power supply,” he said.
He said AMI meters had been installed on every transformer and in every house to monitor incoming and outgoing electricity loads. This enabled Iesco to detect theft and identify technical faults or line losses and address them immediately through real-time monitoring.
He said tampering was continuously and rigorously monitored through the AMI system. In the event of any anomaly, the system immediately generated tampering and event alerts, which were promptly reported by the PIU AMI team to the relevant M&T teams for field verification and necessary action.
Iesco spokesman Raja Asim said line losses in the Iesco region had been reduced to 7.6pc, the lowest in the country, and attributed the reduction to the AMI metering system.
He said Iesco would further expand the system to other areas. “Though all the industrial units in the Iesco region [have been] converted to this system, domestic and commercial consumers will also be converted to the AMI meter system soon,” he said.
Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2026
