If you hadn’t heard yet, on Thursday last week, OFGEM finally announced a launch date for its long awaited Smart Metering Prospectus: Wednesday, 04 August.

It’s going to be a big day for Smart Metering in the UK and I’d suggest that all those with an interest in the industry mark the date in their diaries with a big, brightly coloured highlighter.

The prospectus aims to clear up uncertainty around issues such as standardisation, the roll-out implementation framework, and consumer engagement. In keeping with the large-scale project that it has been written for, it’s expected to be rather large itself – rumour has it the prospectus is currently weighing in at a hefty 500 pages.

It’s going to make for vital reading and, once it’s released, my stoic colleagues and I intend to start ploughing through it immediately, in order to offer a response as quickly as possible.

Technorati Tags: Ofgem, smart grids, Smart metering

It seems that Westminster has only just got into its usual rhythm before everything stops for the summer recess next week. Those new MPs are just beginning to find their feet and learn the curious ways of Parliament. The Select Committees are almost all up and running and my inbox has been pinging regularly with details of new enquiries and evidence sessions. We have also seen dozens of new peers being appointed. Many of those peers will have been MPs or ministers before but most will not and will find the House of Lords a strange environment.

The new crop of MPs attracted a great deal of interest in the weeks very shortly after the election and their first few days in parliament were the subject of some considerable coverage. But now that the dust has settled a little on general election we’ve had a little more time observe the new intake at work and understand what makes them tick. It will be of little surprise that many of them are focussing on issues that directly affect their constituencies. Interest in rural broadband is especially apparent with flurry of Parliamentary Questions being asked on the subject. The MP for Penrith and the Border, Rory Stewart has made broadband one of his priority issues . He is not alone – many Conservatives that represent those large rural seats see broadband through this “rural lens”. It is a point of view that is reflected by the fact that Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made the delivery of rural broadband a key plank of her department’s work programme.

It is also clear from examining some of the business backgrounds of the new intake that there are a number of MPs who should have entered Parliament with solid knowledge of the technology sector. To cite a couple of examples, Conservative James Morris has had a successful career as a small businessman specialising in software companies and Labour’s Chi Onwurah is the former Head of Telecoms Technology at Ofcom. They may still be in a minority but we can still welcome the addition of this expertise to the Commons and encourage them to help raise the quality of debate around technology issues.

Technorati Tags: government; parliament