How Does Prepaid Metering Work?

A traditional electronic prepaid metering system typically operates at three levels:

• Meters that are installed at the customer's home. These meters dispense energy up to the amount that the customer prepaid.
• Vending stations located at the utility's offices or designated payment agencies. These stations/agencies sell prepaid credits to customers.
• Master stations that group vending stations together for administration, reporting and control purposes. Master stations communicate information - e.g. customer information, tariff changes, etc - to the vending stations. The vending stations, in turn, report detailed customer sales and other transaction information to the master station.

A prepaid customer goes to a vendor and purchases credits for their meter to dispense energy. The vendor has knowledge of the customer and the rate that the customer is paying. The vendor issues the credits in any of the following forms: a prepaid card, a token (to be inserted into the meter) or a series of numbers (to be keyed into the meter).