A core feature of the UK’s future energy landscape is Smart Metering, and Good Energy is already trialling Smart Meters at some of our flagship and large business customers, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace – and in our own offices. We are also involved with the government’s consultation and workshops on smart metering, and partnered in smart meter trials for some of our generators. The government should make the final specifications known late next year, when we’ll be able to tell our customers our plans for wider roll out.

There’s been lots of debate in the media at the moment about the introduction of smart metering, and what smart meters can and cannot do.  To try and sort the facts from the fiction, we put some questions to Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director.




Q  Will smart metering reduce my energy use?

Not necessarily.  Smart metering will be a tool which will allow people to understand their energy usage, and then use that information to reduce their energy use.  It is an enabling tool.  If you have a smart meter fitted, and then don’t bother to interact with it, then it will not save you any money at all.  One of the most interesting things I have found is knowing what my base load is – i.e. how much you use if you are not physically doing anything or are even out of the house.  My base load is about 70 watts, consisting of things like clocks, broadband routers, cordless phones and a couple of appliances that must be on standby.  All of this uses about a tenth of my total annual electricity consumption.  Smart metering will allow people to understand this and understand what they waste – until Smart Meters are introduced, an Energy Monitor does this job quite well.

Q Will energy companies be monitoring what I do?

No. For most people suppliers will request a reading from the meter once a month, and that’s it.  Real-time data about your energy usage is for the customer to use in their homes.   One of the key principles that the government, industry and consumer groups agree on is that the customer owns the data.  So energy companies can only use it with your consent for the purposes you agree (e.g. to supply electricity or gas).  Data can only be used for other purposes with the customer’s consent.

For example it may be possible for Smart Metering technology to enable a device to monitor housebound elderly people and activate an alarm if energy use stops. However, customers would have to consent to the system being installed, and give their energy supplier permission to recognise the device and allow it to interact with the meter.   Consumers will always be in charge of what they share.

Q Will energy companies will be able to cut me off remotely?

Cutting off customers’ energy supplies is always a last resort.  There are, and will remain strict rules around this.  In reality, smart metering should reduce the need to cut off supplies because companies could offer alternatives, such as a pre-payment meter without the need to change the meter, or a policy of allowing only a maximum number of units of use per day, all with the customer’s agreement.  It’s also the case that the small number of people who don’t pay for their energy usage, are subsidised by those who do.  So this will actually benefit the vast majority.

Q Will smart meters talk to my fridge and other devices?

This is not about your fridge using the network to order more milk, but it could be that in return for a cheaper tariff, you allow your energy supplier or local network operator the right to delay certain devices from using energy for short periods, normally at peak times.  You probably wouldn’t notice a difference, but it could help manage and reduce energy use.  At Good Energy we believe this has great potential.

Overall, smarter meters will be beneficial for everyone, offering accurate bills, better understanding of energy usage and options for cheaper tariffs.  In time they will also offer technology solutions which will allow us to build a more efficient energy system based on renewables, and that can only be a good thing.