Energy Saving News
Energy Efficiency may not be Improved by Smart Meters
SMART meters may not deliver the hoped-for energy efficiency, such are the conclusions of a new study but the research highlights the importance of the need for energy use feedback to the consumer.
The paper by Sarah Darby of the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute published in the journal Building Research and Information, looked at the motives and outcomes to date of smart metering in Italy, Sweden, California and the Netherlands amongst others.
She found that most smart meters just provide accurate energy bills with readings being sent directly to the utility firms. The research also revealed there is scant evidence about what an advanced metering infrastructure can actually achieve.
In an interview with the BBC, Darby said that smart meters had the potential to control energy at certain times of day.
"At a time of peak demand, the utility company could switch off your water heater and they would offer you a special tariff to be allowed to do that," she explained.
This sort of control in the hands of the utility companies may explain why smart meters are being rolled out for different reasons, as an example in Italy they are installed to reduce fraud while in Sweden to provide accurate billing.
The intention of smart metering in the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK, and to a lesser extent California, is to help users improve their energy efficiency and reduce demand, but in many places, notably Netherlands and California, efforts have been plagued by consumer resistance to the gathering, monitoring and storing of personal and business data.
Darby concluded that If the roll-out of new metering is not handled right, demand reduction will not necessarily flow from an improvement in information.
Friday 17th September 2010
