Smart solution to energy supply
12 May 2009
A new report from the Department of Energy and Climate Control concerning the roll-out of energy meters thrusts another potential ‘killer app’ into the willing lap of the electronics industry.
In last week’s column (In search of the killer app) I suggested that all is not gloomy from the perspective that applications will always present themselves for as long as the human civilisation is evolving.
I used the actual example of electronic voting machines in India and the slightly flippant, although not entirely spurious, notion of swine flu testers as potential ‘killer apps’ that could provide the electronics industry with a welcome boost.
This week has seen the launch of a new report from the Department of Energy and Climate Control (DECC) concerning the roll-out of energy meters over the next decade, and this thrusts another potential ‘killer app’ into the willing lap of the electronics industry. And for all that this might not be as sexy as iPods or netbooks it does, in the UK alone, represent a market of around 25 million households. And with European energy supply companies increasingly crossing national borders then the market potential becomes even more appealing.
What makes smart metering exciting is that it is a product of its age – it is something that is not only convenient for energy suppliers, it fits in with the energy consciousness of the average homeowner. This is unlike water metering, which I still distrust. I think that the thought of trusting water companies to hold prices for people who switch to meters will prove to be naive, as when water meters are dominant the unit prices will rise and penalise people, like me, with families and therefore greater consumption.
Energy, whether gas or electric, is already metered, so there is no conspiracy theory about this being a policy driven by utility companies. Superficially it allows accurate billing and so an end to overcharging – a worthy reason in its own right. But with a bit of imagination this could be an opportunity to do much more.
Mark England, managing director of Sentec, a metering/technology company, said: “Smart metering is a key enabler in the government’s push towards reducing carbon emissions in line with EU targets and has the potential to transform the way we all produce, consume and pay for our energy: it would be difficult to underestimate the impact of the national roll-out programme on the energy industry and its stakeholders. This report from DECC gives us a much clearer picture of the way the market is likely to be structured and after chomping at the bit for a number of years, market participants have now been let out of the starter gates.”
The key is making full use of the information available from these meters. Rather than just use these as a record of energy used, these meters can provide information about how a household is performing environmentally and consequently how much this is costing them. And England expanded: “Smart meters are, in effect, a gateway to a huge range of possibilities, including increased micro-generation, greater use of renewables, and a whole range of home management options. But these opportunities will only be realised if sufficient room for competition and innovation is built into the market design. An overly-prescribed, standardised model may take a particular view on how the interoperability of all the meters might work at the expense of that need to drive competition and create a market in which consumers can make real choices.”
So there is the rallying cry for the electronics industry – to make full use of this opportunity, not just with the meters themselves but with a host of home automation, control and even generation products in the future, the fundamental designs must be imaginative and flexible. It is also possible that consumers might see the benefits of these meters to such an extent that they drive demand, rather than wait for the scheme to be rolled out. It might not take a decade for this market to be realised!
England concluded: “We must make sure there are sufficient motivational factors for suppliers to change, improve or differentiate their services. If not we could end up with a snapshot of our current technology capabilities, frozen in time, that will close the market for other services to be introduced on the back of smart metering. British innovation in this field leads the world and there are plenty of companies and individuals developing exciting products that fit into a genuinely transformative, smart-meter powered landscape. It would be one of the biggest missed opportunities in British industrial history if we did not take advantage of that.”
Contact Details and Archive...
Most Viewed Articles...