Clever, that

In October last year, the government announced that every household in the UK will have a smartmeter by 2020. These clever devices, about the size of a smoke alarm, help residents save money by displaying their energy consumption and how much it is costing them.

Although energy companies are likely to fit the meters, social landlords will need to be prepared: the change is equivalent to the leap from analogue to digital television.

The days of the gas man coming round to check the meter will be over - the necessary information will beam remotely to energy providers via a wireless network.

This could have one immediate result for tenants who have a pre-pay meter fitted in their houses, which means they pay more for their energy.

he new meters will mean that the switch to a credit meter can be done remotely, without having to physically change the meter, making it much easier to transfer from an expensive tariff to a cheaper one.

Smartmeters can also ‘speak’ to appliances around the home, telling them to switch on during times of low (and cheaper) energy demand.

ashing machines could come on during the day, or mobile phones start charging in the middle of the night.

The pressure’s off

Other possibilities include sending information to the household’s TV or internet service, or sounding an alarm which alerts the user to certain electricity consumption levels.

The government also hopes the smartmeter roll-out will relieve pressure on power stations by spreading the electricity demand of the peak 6pm to 8pm slot, when most people come home from work, put the kettle and the TV on.

Residents who are at home during the day will benefit from being able to use cheaper daytime energy. They may also be living in environmentally-friendly houses built to the code for sustainable homes, which can generate their own electricity via solar panels or ground-source heat pumps.

If so, smartmeters will help measure the amount of electricity they are generating and decide when to feed into the grid and when to use it for themselves.

Finally, there is the hope that consumers will curb their energy use if they can see what it costs them by the minute: that will be displayed in pounds and pence on the smartmeters. It could help lift thousands of households out of fuel poverty: a Places for People pilot resulted in an average 13 per cent bill reduction

Sounds good - so how will the change be implemented?

Energy regulator Ofgem is co-ordinating a huge pilot - the energy demand research project - run by the electricity companies.

‘The energy companies have been given a mandate to go and fit them in people’s homes, which is the replacement of 40 million devices across the country,’ says a spokesperson for Ofgem. ‘It needs to be done in the most cost effective way possible.’

EDF Energy, E.ON, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy have £10 million from the government to trial the technology.

‘[We] firmly believe that smartmetering can play a vital role in helping to deliver the government’s energy efficiency and carbon reduction targets for 2020, as well as giving domestic customers with consumption data that will assist them in adopting energy efficient behaviours,’ says Rajan Lakhani, a spokesperson for EDF Energy, which is trialling up to 3,000 smartmeters.

The trials began in late 2007 and final reporting is expected in autumn 2010. Smartmeters have been installed in around 18,000 houses and real-time display devices in about 8,000 homes - the remaining 24,000 are in ‘control’ houses where nothing is done, or where community engagement, energy efficiency and clearer billing information are trialled.

‘We’re here to collate the results and we want to see whether it will change people’s behaviour,’ says the Ofgem spokesperson.

Interim results reveal consumers are pleased with getting more information on their energy consumption, although no significant changes in usage have been recorded - apparently not surprising in these early stages due to insufficient data and time for consumers’ to change habits.

Customer engagement and advice on energy reduction have already proved particularly important in making the most of the technology - which is why social landlords are likely to be an important part of the puzzle.

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