Misperceptions about the new technologies being can adversely affect their adoption. A misperception among postpaid customers that prepaid meters would lead to increased electricity costs resulted in lower-than-expected migration postpaid to prepaid meters. In addition, the full benefits of smart meters are currently not being achieved by either PLN or the business consumers because the smart meters are currently being used only to read meters remotely and at times even this is not possible due to the weak communication infrastructure in some areas. Besides the remote meter reading facility, smart meters can provide useful information to both PLN and the customer on electricity consumption patterns. Therefore, the use of smart meters can be extended to provide business customers access to their own consumption data and self-reading of their meters and this has to be communicated widely to potential users.
Sustainable Energy Access in Eastern Indonesia—Electricity Grid Development Program