Would integrated circuit cards help cut energy consumption? Mai Samih finds out Everybody complains of skyrocketing electricity bills these days. And the more bills go up, the more the complaints from the consumers. This coincides with the need of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy to search for new methods to save energy and find new ways of electricity generation to cover the basic needs of towns and cities in Egypt. To solve these problems, experts have recommended smart electricity metres. They are a type of electricity counters that the Ministry of Electricity intends to put out and apply as a solution for the problem of high bills during the leisure periods of the consumer. It works by feeding certain numbers to it from a card that is bought from electricity companies just like the mobile phone cards. It has been applied successfully in the summer resorts and in many foreign countries. Aktham Abul-Ela, deputy minister of electricity and energy, expounds on how the system of the metre works: "It is just like the mobile phone technology; it evolved into an electronic chip that calculates, according to a built-in programme, the cost of the service according to the money that it has been charged with." The new service is monitored by officials from the companies on a regular basis as well as a computerised monitoring device to spot irregularities so the companies could discover any fraud. "There is software the metres depend on that is monitored every 2- 4 months," Abul-Ela adds. This enables the companies to monitor the metres from their headquarters without disturbing the clients every month. This service already exists and is beginning to spread in many parts of Egypt. There are more than 18,000 metres of this kind in Southern Cairo, Northern Delta and Beheira Companies as well as Ras Al-Barr and Gamasa. Asmaa Ali, a housewife, believes the ordinary electricity metres are more efficient. "What if I forgot to charge it with money? Does that mean that the lights will go off? I know some people who lived abroad and would put coins in special electricity metres in flats they rented. But then again, what if I could not get the card in time or ran out of money?" she said, expressing her aversion to the new counters. Abul-Ela reassures that there is a grace period before the electricity service shuts down in a flat. "When the account is half- consumed, a signal is given in the counter, and when it goes down to 25 per cent, it gives another signal. It also gives a signal as consumption reaches 10 per cent. In addition to this, the counter allows a consumer to use the electricity service if he ran out of credit till the next day in the morning," he said. On the other hand, Samia Ahmed, a postgraduate student, believes that it could be a good way to stop wasting money. "At least I will know in advance what I will be paying for each month. Besides, I will be relieved of having to face the embarrassing situation of not having the money to pay the bill at the time the company receiver comes and asks for it," she said. Attempts have been made to help citizens save electricity. In 2009, minister of electricity and energy, Hassan Younis, decided that a bid between companies was to be made to import 4.5 million electricity- saving lamps which were expected to decrease consumption by 4,000 megawatt. It has been considered that a person using these lamps will save 80 per cent of what he usually uses. The lamps have found their way into many homes in many governorates since. Many efforts have been made to find the safest and cheapest method of generating electricity. Recent methods for generating electricity in an ozone-friendly way include generating electricity using kinetic energy in windmills. There are other methods which are used to generate electricity using the heat energy that is a result of solar power plants. The latest is the nuclear power plants for generating electricity. This last method will take a lot of scientific effort and money until urban needs are met. The number of users in the Southern Cairo Electricity Company alone is 4.1 million consuming 2,500 megawatt. According to Abul-Ela, the consumer determines the amount of electricity that will be used in his home depending on the types of appliances he owns. A person who owns an air conditioner is not expected to buy a card worth of LE50 credit, for example, as this will not be enough. The government subsidies granted to the three sections of consumers using the traditional metre will be the same with the card metre. A consumer only pays LE18 for a new computerised metre to be installed in his house. The prices of the cards range from LE10 to LE1,000. The cards are available for consumer use in local electricity companies. Experts believe that it is possible that almost 30 per cent of the current consumption of electricity will be decreased with the use of the new intelligent metre. In the meantime, it is up to the consumer to decrease the amount of electricity used at home. This could be done by using the necessary appliances at home and not leaving the air conditioners, warmers, or lights on, for example, when a person is in another room. It remains a matter of willpower that will drive a person to reasonably consume electricity in his household.
