[ Spotlight: Smart metering ]
For the UK to be a world leader in the fight against climate change, smart meters have to be part of any carbon reduction strategy
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mart meters are the next generation of electricity and gas meters. They will bring about the end of estimated bills and meter readings, and provide customers and energy suppliers with accurate
information on the amount of energy being used. They will allow customers to make choices concerning how much energy they use, and enable them to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. With climate change high on the national agenda,
the government and the energy industry are looking for more sustainable ways to produce and use energy in the home. Duncan Sedgwick, chief executive of the Energy Retail Association, says: ‘Smart meters have the potential to revolutionise the energy industry. I believe they are absolutely essential if consumers are to be offered greater control of their energy consumption.’ According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), trials in
other countries show that simply having a smart meter in the home can cut energy bills by five to 10 per cent. For the UK to be a world leader in the fight against climate change, smart meters have to be part of any carbon reduction strategy.
State of play In 2009, the Labour government announced that it wanted all UK homes to be fitted with smart meters by 2020, and just recently the new coalition government has stated its commitment to making this happen before this date. However, the path to the full roll-out of smart meters in the UK is proving to be a complex one. In late July this year, Ofgem published its Smart Metering
Implementation Programme consultation document, which sets out proposals for how smart metering will be delivered, including design requirements, central communications, data management and the approach to roll-out. It is a comprehensive document outlining the issues that must be overcome and ways to ensure that the smart metering programme is carried out with the benefits to the consumer at the fore. The document can be found at
www.ofgem.gov.uk
What are the benefits of smart meters?
n Smart meters offer near-accurate real-time information on the amount of electricity and gas being used;
n Smart meters can communicate between the supplier and the consumer, making bills accurate and bringing an end to estimated billing;
n Consumers can see the amount of energy they are using in an easily understandable format and therefore can change the way they use energy in the home;
n Smart meters will support microgeneration; n Smart meters will allow for a huge variety and sophistication of electricity tariffs; n Electricity suppliers can level the peaks and troughs of demand. This can be achieved by providing cheaper electricity for low demand periods and by increasing the prices for higher demand periods. With a reduction in peak demand, fewer power stations are required to be on standby, which reduces carbon emissions; and
n Smart meters provide the potential for energy used by domestic appliances to be managed in more a dynamic way.
Autumn 2010 ECA Today 41
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