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| Prepaid meter shown here on the right. |
Tonga Power Ltd installed and began trialling their first prepaid meter in Tongatapu on Monday, 24 December 2012 at Koli Prescott’s home in Longolongo.
This trial is underway to understand how well the meters can handle the Tongan environment as well as studying the different hardware and prepayment methods to determine which is most suitable for Tonga. If the trial is viable for Tonga it is anticipated that the prepaid meter would create the following benefits:
1. To help the customers afford paying for their electricity with smaller amounts. At the moment TPL prepaid trial only offers 25 and 50 pa'anga tokens and plans to supply lower amounts in the near future.
2. To help commercial customers who require 3-phase prepaid meters enable them to export cooler containers with agricultural produces and fish products.
3. To help current customers who would prefer prepaid meters as a way of budgeting or monitoring their electrical consumptions.
The study is funded by NZ Aid into the number of customers and the economic benefits of prepayment meters. The main focus of the trial is to gain experience with the vending systems, procedures as well as to measure the response of customers to this new option of paying for power. Mrs Kilisitina ‘Esau, an elderly woman residing in Koli’s home said, “We are fortunate to take part in this trial, and we acknowledge Tonga Power for this great opportunity. This new meter will act as a budgeting tool for us to use. We can pay with smaller amounts and pay more when visitors come to stay at our home.”
The prepaid meter paybacks the customer in ways that:
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It allows the customers to make small payments, pay the amount they want as they use.
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Customers can purchase electricity as they require. This will allow them to utilize the amount of electricity they consume on a monthly basis or otherwise.
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The payment is easy and allows the consumer to be in control of their own electricity consumption. |
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It allows the customer to have no more worries about disconnection and reconnection fee.
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The installation of the new prepaid meter cost Tonga Power $700 (TOP) which also includes the service line. A total of $74.52 was then paid by TPL to the Electricity Commission for the installation inspection.
Through this trial it is hoped TPL will narrow down the most suitable prepaid meter, appropriate support services, and gain sufficient experience in dealing with prepaid meter issues in Tonga. Other metering issue TPL currently addresses includes smart meters, solar power meters and handheld meter reading devices.