Electrical energy (electricity) has become an indispensable asset in building sustainable economies and reducing poverty. For such reasons many countries have embarked on various electrification projects, from urban areas to rural areas. However, these projects would not achieve the earlier stated objectives where there is unreliable supply of electric power. Most developing countries especially in Africa are often plagued with power crises. These crises are often as a result of energy constraints and/or generation capacity constraints. Various energy efficiency/demand side management schemes have been implemented to properly ration power. These schemes range from rotational load shedding programs to energy quota systems, with the latter presenting more advantages than the former. Energy quota systems were first known to be only effective in rationing power in energy-constrained environments. However, the advent of smart metering technology has also proved this scheme also effective in capacity-constrained environments. Despite the many advantages of this scheme over rotational load shedding programs, most developing countries in Africa such as Ghana and Nigeria, still use the latter as the only means of rationing power. In this paper, the advantages of energy quota systems over load shedding programs are brought to light, international best practices of this scheme are also discussed and we propose a model energy quota system using smart energy meters. Additionally we propose a design aimed at retrofitting existing (non-smart) meters and converting them into smart meters for developing countries in Africa. The proposed model does not require the replacement of old standalone energy meters.

Power Rationing Schemes Quota System Smart Meter Africa developing countries