Green Energy Republic

Smart Metering Q&A

A core feature of the UK’s future energy landscape is Smart Metering, and Good Energy is already trialling Smart Meters at some of our flagship and large business customers, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace – and in our own offices. We are also involved with the government’s consultation and workshops on smart metering, and partnered in smart meter trials for some of our generators. The government should make the final specifications known late next year, when we’ll be able to tell our customers our plans for wider roll out.

There’s been lots of debate in the media at the moment about the introduction of smart metering, and what smart meters can and cannot do.  To try and sort the facts from the fiction, we put some questions to Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director.




Q  Will smart metering reduce my energy use?

Not necessarily.  Smart metering will be a tool which will allow people to understand their energy usage, and then use that information to reduce their energy use.  It is an enabling tool.  If you have a smart meter fitted, and then don’t bother to interact with it, then it will not save you any money at all.  One of the most interesting things I have found is knowing what my base load is – i.e. how much you use if you are not physically doing anything or are even out of the house.  My base load is about 70 watts, consisting of things like clocks, broadband routers, cordless phones and a couple of appliances that must be on standby.  All of this uses about a tenth of my total annual electricity consumption.  Smart metering will allow people to understand this and understand what they waste – until Smart Meters are introduced, an Energy Monitor does this job quite well.

Q Will energy companies be monitoring what I do?

No. For most people suppliers will request a reading from the meter once a month, and that’s it.  Real-time data about your energy usage is for the customer to use in their homes.   One of the key principles that the government, industry and consumer groups agree on is that the customer owns the data.  So energy companies can only use it with your consent for the purposes you agree (e.g. to supply electricity or gas).  Data can only be used for other purposes with the customer’s consent.

For example it may be possible for Smart Metering technology to enable a device to monitor housebound elderly people and activate an alarm if energy use stops. However, customers would have to consent to the system being installed, and give their energy supplier permission to recognise the device and allow it to interact with the meter.   Consumers will always be in charge of what they share.

Q Will energy companies will be able to cut me off remotely?

Cutting off customers’ energy supplies is always a last resort.  There are, and will remain strict rules around this.  In reality, smart metering should reduce the need to cut off supplies because companies could offer alternatives, such as a pre-payment meter without the need to change the meter, or a policy of allowing only a maximum number of units of use per day, all with the customer’s agreement.  It’s also the case that the small number of people who don’t pay for their energy usage, are subsidised by those who do.  So this will actually benefit the vast majority.

Q Will smart meters talk to my fridge and other devices?

This is not about your fridge using the network to order more milk, but it could be that in return for a cheaper tariff, you allow your energy supplier or local network operator the right to delay certain devices from using energy for short periods, normally at peak times.  You probably wouldn’t notice a difference, but it could help manage and reduce energy use.  At Good Energy we believe this has great potential.

Overall, smarter meters will be beneficial for everyone, offering accurate bills, better understanding of energy usage and options for cheaper tariffs.  In time they will also offer technology solutions which will allow us to build a more efficient energy system based on renewables, and that can only be a good thing.

Washing with the wind

By Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director

 

As we move the UK to a low carbon economy, one of the things  we are going to have to address is the variable nature of wind.  Currently, energy forecasting is a one-way street.  The guys who manage the network work out what we expect the electricity demand to be and then call on stream the appropriate amount of generation, primarily from gas or coal-fired power stations.   So, we control the generation side, but what about the demand side – the amount of energy consumers like you and me are using? The fact is that, currently, we do very little to control this.  We actually see controlling demand as a last resort, shutting off heavy industry in times of system stress, and suffering hysteria in the press about how close we came to blackouts.

In our low carbon future, we cannot do this. Wind generation is reliable with turbines in the right place achieving high load factors, and their output is perfectly forecastable.  Also, we will never be dependent on other countries for our wind power, like we are for gas, coal, oil or uranium.  This is a big plus for our long term energy security.  However, the option to switch on another wind turbine to deal with the evening peak or prolonged period of cold weather is not always there and, besides, we want to be maximising the use of turbines, not building them and turning them off to be used only if there is high demand. 

To do this, we need to look at demand management.  We’ve become used to the idea that when we want to use energy, we flick a switch and there it is.  A lot of the time our decisions on when we need that energy are random.  Do we care when our hot water is heated, as long as we have a full tank for when we get up in the morning?  Do we care when our fridges and freezer click in and out as long as they remain cold?  And in the future, do we care when our electric car charges, as long as it is available by the time we need it?

The answer is no.  Therefore, why not pass control of such things to someone else, who then maximises the use of wind energy for us? Would this sort of management be feasible?

We looked into this a while ago and set up a project with Durham University and a renewable technology company called Senergy Econnect.  The project was called “Demand for Wind” (www.demandforwind.co.uk), and looked at developing a process where domestic devices could be controlled remotely based on the availability of wind power on the network.

Devices in the trial included dishwashers fitted with a special plug, so that they could be activated remotely.  Customers could set the time by which they required it to have commenced running via an internet interface.  The system would then turn it on at a time of excess wind.  If such an occasion did not occur, then the dishwasher would kick in at a time to ensure clean dishes were available.  The principle was also trialled for washing machines and water heating, and in theory could work for any device the customer chose to set up.

The system was also tested against customers’ microgeneration.  The theory was that devices would kick in when micro wind turbines were turning, maximising the use of onsite generation.  A complication with this is that wind can be gusty, and once a device like a dishwasher is started there is no stopping it until the run is complete, but in essence it allowed microgenerators to maximise the use of their homegrown energy rather than exporting it to the network. 

The project proved that the concept is feasible, and the consumers in the trials were generally positive.  People liked the fact that decisions were automated, but only taken when permission was granted by the householder, and their ability to override the system seems to be key.

With work now commencing on smart meters and smart grids, the potential to use this technology to shift energy usage to times when renewables are at their peak are vast.  This means that very soon we could all be doing our washing with the wind without even thinking about it.

Smart meters all round

By Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director

It is now two years since the government decided smart meters would be a good idea.  Today, the government has announced a consultation on what they intend smart meters should do, and how they should be delivered.

The consultation is a little short on detail, but a smart meter will:

• Allow energy suppliers read meters without a visit
• Allow energy suppliers to re-programme meters without a visit
• Allow energy suppliers (or network operators) to engage in demand management
• Allow customers to have accurate bills
• Allow customers to access real time information
• Allow suppliers to offer more imaginative tariffs

Good Energy has always supported the move to smart metering.  We believe that in order for customers to reduce their energy consumption they must first understand what they use and when.

Suppliers will also see efficiency savings (No more meter reading visits and reduced customer calls regarding estimated bills), which should offset some of the costs of implementation.  So if implemented properly it will be a win-win situation.

The problem is implementation.  The government has set out its preferred option, which seems to be the best approach, but will require the electricity and gas industries to come together (despite appearances, they operate completely separately behind the “dual Fuel” marketing front.) and design new systems both centrally and at the suppliers end.  Most of these systems will need to be in place before roll out can commence.

The scale of the change should not be underestimated.  People quote as comparison the switch from coal gas to North Sea gas.  But that was a straight forward technical exercise of tweaking appliances it didn’t require complex system changes and was under a single nationalised industry.  Beside, more homes hade people there during the day than now so access was easier.

Strong management will be required to push this forward, and the temptation to over complicate it must be resisted.  It should be do-able, it must be done if we are to improve our energy efficiency, but if you can think of a recent major programme of work of this size that delivered on time and budget, then please tell me.

 

So Smart meters are on their way... (Halloween special)

By Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director

Finally, the government has made a decision.  All domestic customers will have smart meters by 2020.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, the government has actually yet to define what a smart meter is.  So depending on that definition, it could be:

Good or Bad for customers: 
• More Accurate bills! Good! 
• Supplier can disconnect you remotely. Bad!

Good or Bad for the Environment. 
• If Customers get information to make a difference. Good!
• If badly implemented to work against Micro generation/heat. Bad!

Good or Bad for Good Energy. 
• If we have control in what meters our customers get. Good! 
• If we just write cheques for ‘big 6’ to use their meters. Bad!

Good Energy needs to campaign for:

1. What we and our customers want.
2. If we can’t have what we want, what we can work with.
3. If we can’t have these two, what we cannot work with.
After all, smart meters are like magic, undefined and can be used for Good or EVIL!

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