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Expect SMS before power outages, supply alerts & technical glitches

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Expect SMS before power outages, supply alerts & technical glitches

Irked by unscheduled power cuts in your area? Soon, you will be able to track power cuts, demand-supply shortfalls and other glitches through a mobile application and a web portal. You will also get SMS and flash message alerts about these.

In a novel initiative, the Union power ministry plans to roll out a nationwide SMS-cum-alert messages service to give real-time data on power cuts. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) would develop the broadcast message service along with a mobile application and web portal.

To begin with, 30 discoms across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Assam, Haryana and Karnataka have agreed, in-principle, to join the programme.

The portal would have database till the last-mile transformer level and would monitor locality-wise power supply position. The data would be provided and updated in real time by the respective discoms in the states and would be synced by REC on the portal.

The portal would be open to feedback from both consumers and discom officials, who will give real-time updates on power supply status. Currently, only a few private discoms such as BSES and Tata Power inform consumers about power cuts or any technical fault. But, the new system mooted the central government would be monitored real-time with back and forth feedback, said an official.

The exercise would involve installing modems on each transformer and link all data to a national cloud service. This cloud data would be visible on the web portal and the mobile app. It would also send out alerts, which the discoms can send across as SMS or broadcast messages. 

Business Standard, New Delhi, 26th May, 2016 

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