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.