The proposed Standard Transfer Specification (STS) prepaid meter upgrade using Token Identifier (TID) has caused some concern, but Aliyu Tukur Tahir, the managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) and the chief electrical inspector of the Federation, allayed that concern yesterday.
NEMSA, according to Tahir, would make sure that all electricity meters and other equipment used by the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) are of the proper standard, specification, safety, and quality to precisely measure and record the electrical energy used.
In a statement issued by Tahir and signed by Ama Umoren, Head Communication and Protocol Unit of NEMSA, the agency also emphasized that it would guarantee the safety of people and property, and that the proposed start of the exercise by the Distribution Companies would not have a negative effect on the general public.
The Token Identifier, a 24-bit feature found in STS-compliant tokens that identifies the date and time of the token generation and, according to Tahir, is used to detect whether a token has already been used in a prepaid meter, Tahir urged electricity consumers not to panic.
“The TID represents the number of minutes elapsed since the base date of January 1, 1993. The incrementing of the 24-bit field means that at some point in time, the TID value will roll over to a zero value”, he stated.
He claims that in order to prevent TID rollovers, all meters will need key change tokens with the rollover bit set, which the utility companies will provide when the key change tokens are imputed. This will force the meters to simultaneously reset their TID stack memory to 0 and change their meter key.
“This process will not make energy meters faster or slower, hence, there is no need for panic and the TID rollover will NOT alter or change the metrological properties of electricity meters that have been certified by NEMSA, to accurately measure and record electrical energy consumed.”
To accommodate the new manufacturing hardware secure modules and key load files, meter manufacturers will need to modify their production methods.
“They are also required to start manufacturing meters on the 2014 base date as will be specified by their customers when they have updated their vending systems.”
Along with their standard energy tokens when buying electricity, the distribution companies (DISCOs) would also give its prepaid meter clients Key Change Tokens (KCT), he added.
Tahir added that the final piece of the puzzle—the TID rollover key replacement procedure—would involve the end-users of prepaid meters.
He explained that in order to complete the software update for the prepaid meter, a unique pair of tokens known as a key change token (KCT) must be inserted into the prepaid meter.
The two KCT tokens (KCT1 & KCT2) must be entered sequentially into the upgraded prepaid meters of the customers, followed by the energy token that will be issued by the DISCO. Energy tokens must be deposited into customers’ meters before the expiration date if they are to be utilized or if they have already been purchased.
Let me reassure everyone who uses power that there is nothing to worry about because the meter update process won’t change the credit unit balance on their meters. After the upgrade, the credit balance will be unaffected. They should also be aware that upgrading a meter is a one-time activity. After the upgrade is finished, future energy token purchases will go on as usual, according to Tahir.
