Smart terminals revolutionize electricity services in Shizuishan, Ningxia

The State Grid Dawukou District Power Supply Company in Shizuishan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, piloted the smart terminal at Shengli Residential Complex on Aug 12 to address electricity service challenges faced by elderly residents in older neighborhoods. This compact, portable device brings grid-based services directly to the community, resolving common daily difficulties for senior citizens and delivering thoughtful power services right to their doorsteps.

Shengli Residential Complex is an older community with many elderly residents living alone or with mobility challenges, creating numerous bottlenecks in daily electricity service. Most seniors are not proficient with smartphones and have to visit the service center in person to pay bills or report faults. When power outages or line failures occur at home, they cannot quickly reach the substation manager, leading to long repair wait times. Without intuitive bill reminders, they often incur unpaid bills and power disconnections. Outage notices and safety education materials also fail to reach them effectively, keeping electricity-related inquiries and service tickets consistently high.

To address these problems, State Grid Dawukou District Power Supply Company has introduced the household smart terminal and launched a pilot installation at Shengli Residential Complex, establishing an integrated closed-loop service system linking "resident terminals — Grid manager mobile app — internal operations management platform".

The smart terminal is designed specifically for elderly residents. Lightweight and compact, it features a large high-contrast display and a prominent orange one-touch call button for effortless operation — functioning reliably even without home Wi-Fi.

The device shows the electricity balance in real time; when funds run low, it alerts users through both on-screen text and a buzzer, keeping seniors informed at all times. A dedicated payment QR code printed on the device lets residents or family members pay online, eliminating the need to queue in person. The one-touch assistance feature is especially practical: pressing the orange button automatically generates a service ticket sent directly to the area’s grid manager, along with the household number, address, and contact phone — enabling staff to respond promptly at the user’s door.

The entire service process is traceable and close-looped. When a resident submits a request via the smart terminal, it goes directly to the grid manager’s WeChat Mini Program; after on-site repairs, staff file the resolution online. Managers can log into the internal platform to monitor all service tickets in real time and follow up on overdue cases — overcoming previous issues of slow response and poor information flow. The device supports magnetic wall-mounting to save indoor space and uses a standard Type-C charging port for easy daily maintenance.

Zhang Can, an elderly resident living alone in Shengli Residential Complex, praised the service, stating: "In the past, when the power circuit tripped at home, I didn’t know how to report the fault on my phone — I could only wait for a neighbor to help. Now, with this mobile terminal on my desk, I just press a button to reach the electrician, and I can see exactly how much is left on my electricity balance. I never have to worry about sudden power cuts anymore."

State Grid Dawukou District Power Supply Company has completed the first batch of 50 terminal installations at Shengli Residential Complex. Since deployment, repair response efficiency has improved significantly, bill alerts now cover all households, fault resolution times have dropped markedly, and electricity-related inquiries and complaints continue to decline.

Going forward, the company will monitor the pilot project’s results, gather resident feedback to refine services, and organize grid workers to provide one-on-one home training so seniors can operate the devices proficiently. Based on the pilot’s outcomes, the company will gradually expand coverage and deepen grid-based, age-friendly power services — using digital tools to continuously improve residents’ electricity experience.