Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has instructed the government to develop a system of smart gas meters. In all, citizens will have to pay some RUR 130 bln ($1.9 bln) for their installation, Kommersant Daily reports.
Intelligent gas meters will be installed to transmit data to an integrated center. The State Duma has already passed a law about the mandatory installation of smart electricity meters in its first reading. Now the parliament members are deciding on who will have to pay for their installation.
A draft law on smart gas meters has not been prepared yet. Large enterprises already have them, and plans call to expand this practice to citizens as well. The installation cost of such a meter might be some RUR 5K ($75). Currently, about 25.6 mln households and apartments in Russia have gas; thus, it will cost about RUR 128 bln to install smart gas meters in all of them. Experts believe that it will be the customers who will have to pay for the installation. It is obvious that many people will not be able to afford it.
At Dmitry Kozak’s instruction, proposals about such gas meters should be developed by March 2019. By the way, customers can already install such gas meters if they want to.