By Natasha Lomas, 11 May 2009 17:34
NEWS
The government has launched a consultation on plans to install smart meters in every UK home by 2020.
Smart meters utilise machine-to-machine comms to enable the real-time transmission of gas and electricity meter readings to the utility - meaning companies don't need to send out staff to check meters manually. They can also deliver real-time information on energy use and encourage customers to manage and reduce their consumption.
The consultation, which runs until 3 August, invites feedback on the type of energy consumption data that should be provided to consumers to maximise "engagement" with the tech, and also on the government's plan to provide a real-time display with each smart meter in order to maximise environmental and energy-saving benefits.
It states: "The government believes smart meters will both change our energy habits in the short term and provide an essential stepping stone to smart grids in the future" - where micro-generation of renewable energy at household and/or community level feeds into and bolsters the national grid.
The consultation also solicits views on different rollout models for the tech.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, said in a statement: "This is a big project affecting 26 million homes, and several million businesses, so it's important we design a system that brings best value to everyone involved."
Comments
There are 5 comments. Join the discussion
1. Stuart Fawcett
A smart meter would communicate over IP broadband, so all houses that want energy will need to have broadband?
Our skyboxes communicate our viewing habits, will the front door will also communicate the time I left for work and converged comms know not to ring the house phone but divert to mobile.
Will this smart meter be paid for by me, and will I need to upgrade it every 3 years to meet different tracking needs from other supply companies.
How much power will 26 million smart meter’s need to power & then recycle the equipment?
Its good for the UK to invest in Tech, but bad if the implementation is then outsourced to other countries as we then too quickly give away our knowledge in such areas.
2. anonymous
The project should be self funding, lead to reduced costs as people will be much more aware of consumption and can track it properly.
Shame about the jobs of the metering people...
Maybe they could combine this with fibre to the home and insulating houses in the UK as eco-driven job generation programmes, With the savings gained, could almost be self funding over 10 years.
A much better use of money than the $12bn flushed down the toilet on the VAT reduction before XMAS, which did not stumulate the economy - i.e. encourage people to buy/consume more crap from China.
3. karen challinor
interesting
I have a couple of questions
first how exactly will these meters communicate with the energy provider, will they use existing networks piggybacking on the home broadband if so how much bandwidth will they use, what do they do if the home does not have a network connection will one be provided and will the resident have access to it, will they all have wifi or a wired connection, will the energy provider simply drive by to pick up the data or will the data be daisy chained to a point where it has a broadband connection so the energy provider can read it
secondly who will pay for this, if the energy provider pays then it will be added to the bill at some point and we will pay for it, if the government pays for it then it will come out of our taxes and we will pay for it, if we pay for it then we pay for it, so I guess we pay pfor it
4. Simon
I can see some interesting possibilities - but only if the meters can be integrated into our networks. It would be interesting to log power usage on the back-room server and see when/where were using the power.
I do forsee security issues though. The comms from meter to billing co has to be 100% secure - if it isn't then it opens up all sorts of potential fraud or opportunities for 'pranks'.
5. Bagpus
Actually its possible for the communications to run over the mains electricity cable - the electric companies have been doing that for many many years. One company was trialing broadband over your mains supply in Winchester (but may have abandoned it). Its the obvious way to do it - small packets of into and nearly every home already has electricity.