PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun A smart electricity meter was installed at the residence of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar on Saturday by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL). The executive engineer of the corporation, Shekhar Tripathi informed the CM about the smart meters and showed how the online data of the meter can be seen on the smartphone. Appreciating the new meter, the CM said that they would be beneficial for all the electricity consumers. He directed the officers of the corporation to inform people about the benefits of these meters. It is worth mentioning here that the smart meters are to be installed at 15.87 lakh houses in the State. These meters will also be installed at transformers and feeders of the power corporations. The UPCL managing director has directed installation of smart meters at the residences of all the officers and employees of the three power corporations of the State. Smart meters help in real time monitoring of electricity consumption which result in controlling unnecessary usage of electricity. The bill process in the smart meters is transparent and solves all the billing problems of the consumers. The UPCL claims that the consumer can know about the details of power usage on his mobile App. The information of electricity fault and interruption is auto generated in these meters. The UPCL has also clarified that no additional charge will be taken from the consumers for replacing existing meters with smart meters. The installation of smart meters will not require meter reading which at present is done every month. On installation of solar panels these meters will function as net meters.