Source: Smart metering platform helps ZETDC recoup 20pc legacy – herald
Martin Kadzere
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has recouped 20 percent of legacy debt owed by medium to large-scale consumers, following the integration of outstanding arrears into a new, high-tech smart metering platform.
ZESA Holdings acting chief executive Engineer Cletus Nyachowe confirmed to the Zimpapers Business Hub last week that the initiative has already reduced a massive US$328 million debt pile.
ZETDC is a subsidiary of ZESA responsible for the transmission and distribution of power.
The system functions by automatically recovering a predetermined portion of legacy arrears whenever a customer makes a pre-payment for their electricity consumption. Eng Nyachowe noted that the automated recovery platform has proven highly effective in stabilising the utility’s revenue collection.
“Smart metering will plug revenue leakages as the metres provide real-time alerts to utility back-offices regarding faults and any fraudulent incidents, such as tampering or bypassing,” Eng Nyachowe said.
“This new technology also empowers our medium and large customers, allowing them to manage their electricity costs more effectively using the detailed load profile data these metres provide.”
By digitising the debt collection process, Eng Nyachowe said the utility has moved away from traditional, often ineffective manual chasing of debtors, ensuring consistent and predictable cash flow. The system is central to ZETDC’s broader strategy to enhance revenue collection efficiency.
The ultimate objective is to capacitate the utility to provide secure, reliable and adequate power supplies — critical infrastructure needed to anchor Zimbabwe’s ongoing economic growth.
The mechanism involves uploading existing customer debt directly onto the smart metering platform.
When a consumer purchases power, the system deducts up to 25 percent towards the debt balance before the remaining credit is applied for usage. However, this is not a blanket rate, as the recovery percentage may vary based on the specific circumstances of each consumer.
“ZETDC expects a steady and sustainable reduction of debt as customers prepay for their current consumption while simultaneously chipping away at their arrears going forward,” said Eng Nyachowe.
The debt burden has severely hamstrung ZESA’s operational capacity, creating a vicious cycle of liquidity constraints and infrastructure decay. With a massive portion of its balance sheet tied up in uncollected revenue, the utility has frequently struggled to settle its own obligations to regional power suppliers such as Eskom of South Africa and Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa, leading to periodic threats of disconnection and reduced imports.
Locally, the uncollected revenue has deferred maintenance on critical power infrastructure and limited the procurement of essential spares and transformers, resulting in frequent equipment failures.
Furthermore, the debt overhang has compromised ZESA’s creditworthiness, making it increasingly difficult to attract the large-scale investment required to modernise the national grid and fund new generation projects essential for supporting the country’s economic growth.
The transition by medium to large-scale consumers marks a significant evolution from ZESA’s initial migration from the old post-paid billing system to basic prepaid metres for domestic consumers.
While that initial phase was aimed primarily at reducing national consumption and recovering domestic unpaid bills, the current smart metre rollout is a more sophisticated technical undertaking.
Unlike basic domestic prepaid units, these smart metres are specifically engineered for industrial and large-scale power users — those consuming above 100 amps — and are capable of measuring both energy and peak demand.
To date, ZETDC has significantly ramped up the programme, partnering with local technology providers such as Econet Business Solutions to install smart metres for industrial clients and large consumers.
As of January 2026, ZETDC has rolled out a suite of digital upgrades, including a modernised billing system with improved account management, a revamped self-service portal, and a new real-time WhatsApp interface.
According to ZETDC, the technological advancements are part of a broader commitment to enhancing the customer experience by providing more efficient, accessible and responsive service delivery.
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