Opinion La Tercera

MR. DIRECTOR
In a statement on Friday, CGE, the electric company with the largest number of customers in Chile, said that “given the concerns of the community about the implementation of this project, the best solution is to re-study the implementation, while there is no widespread conviction of its benefits”. It highlights the questioning of the real advantages of these meters, a technological change supported by the government and Enel Distribución.
I have expressed my support for the introduction of smart meters, but have questioned the gradualness and timeliness of doing so, without a redesign of public policy and distribution law. It is also essential that the regulated basic services companies recover their costs, and that the authority ensures that the investments and costs of these monopolistic companies are carried out in an efficient manner.
As with any technological change in any industry, it is essential that these meters bring effective benefits in terms of cost, quality and security of supply. Otherwise, they will not be accepted by the public. Today they will bring benefits to the SEC, which will be able to have better information on supply interruptions, and to the distribution companies, reducing meter reading costs. It is not evident that the short-term social or economic benefits, given the current regulatory framework, outweigh the investment being made by users.
If we had a deeper market for competitive distribution services, the condition would be different. I envision distributed generation in homes, electric vehicles, home batteries, demand-side management solutions, real time tariffs, etc., and, of course, smart meters.
Hugh Rudnick