Government announces commitment to deliver smart meters
The ERA's members were delighted that, on 2 December 2009, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced that gas and electricity smart meters would be rolled out by energy suppliers to every home in Britain by the end of 2020. The energy industry is already anticipating the next stages of planning the biggest change project in the energy market since the conversion to North Sea gas in the 1970s.
The announcement kick-started the preparations for smart meters in earnest with a central smart metering implementation programme under the auspices of DECC and Ofgem, the energy regulator.
Following the announcement, the ERA published its strategic vision for how the central communications programme will look, which can be found here. The ERA's letter to Sarah Harrison, the ERA SRSM Government Smart Metering Response Analysis and the SRSM Phase I Key Issues can also all be downloaded from these pages.
What are smart meters?
 Smart meters are the next generation of electricity and gas meters.
They will bring about the end of estimated bills and meter readings, and provide customers and energy suppliers with accurate information on the amount of electricity and gas being used.
Smart meters will empower customers to make choices on how much energy they use. Suppliers will install two-way communication systems that display accurate real-time information on energy use in the home to the consumer and back to the energy supplier.
In addition, smart meters enable:
- Flexible tariffs that measure consumption over set time periods
- Capability for selling energy back to the supplier which will facilitate microgeneration technology (e.g. solar panels or wind turbines)
- The same meter for electricity (and gas, subject to cost) will be used for all customers, whether they are pre-payment or credit , and regardless of supplier
- Suppliers will be able to differentiate their tariffs and services through offering alternative means of displaying energy consumption – i.e. through mobiles, the internet or via digital TV
- Improved accuracy of forecasting energy demand at different times of the day
Key resources
- The ERA has produced a Smart Meters and Electricity Display Devices factsheet which is now available to download.
- To find out more about the benefits of smart meters, please view our Introduction to Smart Meters animation.
- On the 11 May 2009, The Government published their impact assessment and consultation on smart metering for gas and electricity. These documents can be found on the DECC website.
- On Friday 17 October 2008, the ERA responded to the BERR
consultation on smart and advanced metering for small and medium sized businesses and sites, and other non-domestic customers. This response can be found on our consultations page.
- The ERA is producing a series of Smart Comment newsletters in order to keep all stakeholders and interested parties up to date with progress on smart metering and the passage of the Energy Bill through Parliament.
- The Smart Metering Operational Framework Seminar presentation given by the ERA and Engage Consulting on 24 September 2007 on our speeches page. The seminar was hosted in London by Elexon.
- As part of the SRSM project a Google map showing international smart metering projects and initiatives has been created and is regularly updated. This is in the public domain and has proven to be a useful resource to all who have found it. It is also open to all to add projects to it.
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