Member of Parliament for Falelatai and Samatau, Lupematasila Tologata Tile, who is a former boss of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.), has backed a call to stop the installation of Smart Metres. 

 Lupematasila, who led the E.P.C. when the Smart Metre project was first introduced, believes the call made by the Office of the Regulator is necessary. 

"I think the call to permanently stop the rollout of the project is appropriate," said Lupematasila. 

"This allows the E.P.C. to address some technical issues and concerns raised by members of the public in relation to the usage of smart metres, before they can decide on what to do next. 

"I think one of the main issues that has surfaced is that people say that the units does not appear on the metre but just the amount spent.

"My understanding is that E.P.C. are waiting for responses and explanation from the American firm that runs the software on how the technical issue can be fixed."

Lupematasila said the project is useful and when it works well can benefit Samoa.

"This project took us some time to prepare before it was rolled out," Lupematasila added. 

"As you know, for any company or government ministry, we always look at how we can use technology to assist us with our work and how they can help make things easier for us on a daily basis. 

"We always want to make good use of technology available to improve the quality of our services and in terms of efficiencies so we can carry out the work that we do. 

"At the end of the day, we all work to satisfy our customers and our people. So for the smart metre project, one of the most useful things about it is that it can offer different costs from time to time. This system is being used by a lot of countries overseas to improve their services. 

"It is very flexible, a capacity the old system cannot do; because it does not have the option to show the different cost of electricity from time to time. It's a very essential system."

The Minister of E.P.C., Olo Fiti Va'ai told Parliament last month that the project has been halted while the E.P.C. waited for a response from a U.S. firm that runs the software.

He said the American firm was asked to fix some of the technical issues that were raised by members of the public after its rollout. 

He also clarified that he did not "authorise" the suspension of the Smart Meter system's installation, as it was an order from the Office of the Regulator. 

According to Olo the U.S. firm needed to explain and be transparent on how electricity units are not displayed to the customers, rather than just the dollar value of the power credit purchase. 

He also told Members that if Smart Meters are not up to standard then there is no harm in going back to the old cash power system.

The order to halt the installation of the Smart Meters came from the Office of the Regulator, added Olo. 

The Office of the Regulator in December last year ordered the E.P.C. to halt the rollout until the office addressed concerns raised by the public.  

An order dated 2 December 2021 signed by the Regulator, Lematua Gisa Fuatai Purcell directed the E.P.C. to immediately cease the installation of Smart Meters. 

“As a result of our meeting of 1 December 2021, it was noted that E.P.C. is undergoing technical work to ensure the continuous concerns and complaints raised by public are resolved,” said Lematua. 

“Therefore, E.P.C. is ordered to cease the roll out and continuation of the project until all regulatory measures are met and approval is given by the Regulator.” 

Furthermore, the Regulator ordered the E.P.C. to provide an update on the technical work “as per report of December 2021” and “resolutions to the concerns raised by the public through complaints”.

This is the second time the Regulator had ordered a temporary stop on the $4.1 million project due to complains from the public over the accuracy of the system. 

In August last year the Regulator ordered the halting of the Smart Meter after a survey of residents who were using the new cash power system revealed many were facing problems with the system.

It wasn’t until December last that the E.P.C. rolled out an upgrade to the Smart Meter system to address complaints by customers including delayed activation after customers paid for top-up. 

Some 3,000 households were part of that upgrade with a reprogramming of the software using firmware.  

With firmware, households Smart Meters are expected to receive their units and resumption of electricity supply within a minute after top-up, unlike before where customers had to wait for up to 15 minutes.

But the system has proven to be problematic for some members of the public who continue to criticise it, saying it was more costly now to purchase electricity compared to the old system.