NEWS

Consumer engagement is imperative to optimize energy savings and reach the stipulated 20% energy savings by 2020 at EU level.  ESMIG believes energy consumption feedback and control technologies are essential to achieve energy consumption savings far above those typically experienced in pilots to date, on the premise that the consumer is educated, encouraged and assisted in the process.

The EU mandated rollout of smart meters accounts for 250 million smart electricity meters to be put in place by 2020. Up to now, only 12 member states have decided to go ahead with their rollout.  Investments in smart meters are still limited on a European scale. This noticeable delay in the rollout of smart meters has several dimensions, but a fragment of the opposition against smart meters is based on misconception of what a smart meter actually is and can do for us.

Smart meters ensure accurate measurement and transmission of electricity, gas, water or heat consumption data or load profiles. They facilitate dynamic pricing based on its advanced time-based pricing mechanism. The smart meter will be connected to digital technology, communications and control devices. This creates an advanced metering infrastructure1. In other words, the smart meter is not a solution in itself, but a central part of an infrastructure that offers various smart grid-related functionalities to various stakeholders to gain insight in energy data and usage.

With this insight, consumers will be able to better manage their consumption and, as a result, to potentially lower their bill. Accurate and more detailed billing information will improve their knowledge about how much electricity they consume. Smart meters will also help make consumer processes more efficient and reliable, leading to faster supplier switching and higher consumer satisfaction.2 In other words, to give the consumer as well as the utility the most accurate data on energy consumption, having a smart meter seems an obvious choice.

In most cases, the consumer will not read consumption data straight from the smart meter. Real data that are appropriate for consumers need to be presented in consumer friendly ways. There are several devices that can translate the data coming from the smart meter into understandable feedback on current consumption level, current bill and historical consumption. The functionalities of these technologies such as in-home displays (IHDs) should not be confused with those of a smart meter.

Research performed by VaasaETT, Empower Demand 1, is based on extensive analysis of more than 100 pilots. The study suggests an average energy efficiency saving from in-home display based feedback of around 9%.3 The follow-up research, Empower Demand 2, confirms that to realize such energy savings, the use of communication and feedback devices are key.4 Many consumers have been confronted with smart meter infrastructure technologies and related costs without sufficient understanding of how that technology might assist to manage their energy consumption.

ESMIG members produce all the technologies to realize consumer empowerment: smart meters with the correct functionality, IHDs, smart phone apps, web applications and more. All these are available on the market today.