HBRP Publication Page 1-10 2019. All Rights Reserved Page 1 Research and Applications: Embedded System Volume 2 Issue 3 DOI: [To be assigned] Global System for Mobile (GSM) Communication Based Smart- Prepaid Energy Meter Monitoring System Abigail Dogbe, Emmanuel Effah, Richard Kofi Annan* University of Mines & Technology, Computer Science &Engineering Department *Corresponding Author E-mail Id: rkannan@umat.edu.gh ABSTRACT The increase in the consumption of electricity both domestically and industrially has necessitated monitoring to understand energy consumption patterns and reduce wastages. Also, with the wide capabilities of mobile technology, data and report can easily be exchanged. With the help of GSM-Module and an Arduino microcontroller, this study presents a prepaid energy meter monitoring system that enables real time remote utility- consumer monitoring of domestic energy usage. This system also curbs the present challenges with meter tampering and guides the consumer to be energy conscious. This system is recommended for policy considerations by utility companies since the deployment of this system can potentially improve operational efficiencies. Keywords: GSM, meters, microcontroller INTRODUCTION In the new global economy, electricity generation and consumption has become a central issue. Electricity consumption boosts economic growth, global networking, and productivity. For example, warmth and cold housing result to health risks and being able to afford to keep house temperature moderate is highly imperative. As claimed by O’Sullivan et al. (2011), in New Zealand from 1980 to 2011 an average estimate of 1900 excess winter deaths occurs each year. A primary concern of electricity production and usage includes its service delivery reliability and accurate allocation of energy costs based on real consumption; which is equally important to both consumers and service providers. System losses thus, technical or non-technical (Han and Xiao 2017) result to huge economic damages. According to Chou and Yutami (2014), non-technical losses by power utility companies total 20 billion dollars annually globally. Most importantly, Depuru et al. (2011) emphasizes apart from increasing installed generation capacity in addressing technical losses, controlling the electricity theft and regularizing existing consumers’ electricity consumptions could be helpful with regards to load management to meet increasing demands. Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in electricity consumption payment methods i.e. postpaid and prepaid (Oseni 2015; Arawomo 2017) to address electricity consumption behaviors amongst end users. Recent evidence suggests that, prepaid meters can improve customers’ welfare by making them more conscious of their energy usage and reducing energy cost (Oseni 2015). Du et al. (2017) show how consumers who receive timely feedback from prepaid meter usage tend to have lower electricity consumption rate. Furthermore, Chou and Yutami (2014) mentions the consideration of smart meters as a means not only to allowing consumers remotely control their energy usage; also, presents a promising technology for conserving limited energy resources. The aggregate of smart and prepaid meters