Smart Grids and Smart Metering Group

Chair  Gavin Jones IBM Biography

Next meeting:

For a list and summary of the group's previous meetings, please visit the Meeting Reviews section.

About the group

Intellect's Smart Grid and Smart Grids and Smart Metering Group represents members with an interest in smart grid and smart metering technologies, by engaging with the regulators, the regulated, and other stakeholders within these markets.

Background

Smart metering - Smart metering is designed to provide utility customers with information on a real time basis about their domestic energy consumption. All smart meter systems comprise an electronic box and a communications link. While there is no universal definition of a smart-meter, it typically provides data on how much gas and electricity is being consumed, the related cost, and the impact this consumption is having on greenhouse gas emissions. The key distinction between smart meter types is determined by the communication format between the utility company and the communications provider: for example, whether communication is one-way or two-way and the data-storage capability of the meter. Smart meters have been rolled out with some success in a number of worldwide markets including the United States, Italy, Sweden and Australia. These have been shown to reduce consumption and will put an end to estimated bills.  

In October 2008, during the Report stages of the Energy Bill, Lord Hunt announced the Government's decision to mandate a roll out of smart meters to domestic electricity and gas customers. Lord Hunt also set out an indicative timetable for this roll out: the Government's preference is to see the roll out begin in 2010, following a two year preparation period, and completed by the end of 2020. The project will potentially require each of the country’s 26m homes to be fitted with new gas and electricity meters – 46m meters in all – which will allow customers to monitor their energy consumption on easy-to-use digital devices. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and utilities regulator Ofgem are planning the roll-out, and it will be supplier led with a central communications model.

The implications of smart-metering and billing for the IT industry are huge: as each meter must be able to reliably and securely communicate information collected to a central location, technology will play a significant role in making all aspects of this project feasible. Electricity meters are likely to provide a number of benefits: from a retail perspective, it is hoped that customers will shift their demand patterns thanks to differential tariffs, in turn easing the pressure on the grid, and the need for new power stations. From a network perspective, operators will be able to spot and manage leakages and boost the grid’s efficiencies. Utility companies themselves will be able to shift resources away from old-fashioned meter-reading, also leading to greater efficiencies. A number of challenges also exist, including the issue of interoperability between meters. It is important that if one energy supplier installs one type of smart system into a property, the basic functions of the meter at the heart of the system must be able to be used by a different supply if the customer chooses to change.

Current Activities

This is a crucial and exciting time for the industry with a potentially tight timeframe and many important decisions to be made. The group is holding a series of roundtables with regulators and other stakeholders, to discuss some of the implications and challenges involved in the potential deployment of smart-metering in the UK, and gauge how best the group can provide decision-makers and thereafter regulators with information on the technology solutions that could help tackle these issues and meet new regulatory requirements. These roundtables provide a greater understanding of the direction of legislation and regulation within the smart-metering arena, and enable members to discuss IT solutions directly with the regulators and government officials.

Intellect has responded to consultations issued by DECC and Ofgem and is well placed to inform decision making.

Roundtables have been held with DECC, Ofcom, Ofgem, The Conservatives, the ERA and Warwick Business School. The Intellect Smart Metering Conference also took place in November 2009 - details and presentations from a range of stakeholders can be found by clicking on the link at the side of this page. 

Smart Grids

Smart meters are not an end in themselves. Indeed, they are a stepping stone to an electrical infrastructure which will seek to intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it. This will help ensure sustainable, economic and secure energy supplies as we move deeper into the twenty first century.

For more information contact: