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European Smart Metering Alliance
Final Report
Date of preparation: January 2010
Author: BEAMA (with contributions from other participants)
Grant agreement number: EIE-06-031
Project type: SAVE
Website: http://www.esma-home.eu
The ESMA Project Team comprised:
Organisation Country
BEAMA UK
KAPE PL
Ea Energianalyse DK
ECN NL
VTT FI
Pilot Systems UK
EDV ENERGIA PT
SINTEF NO
SenterNovem NL
SPEC PL
Ekodoma LT
SEVEn CZ
ENDESA DISTRIBUTION ES
ENDESA ENGINEERING ES
Front illustration is the Power Player (See Chapter 10), reproduced courtesy of Home
Automation Europe (http://www.homeautomationeurope.com)
Disclaimer
The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for
any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Le contenu de cette publication n'engage que la responsabilité de son auteur et ne représente pas
nécessairement l'opinion de la Communauté européenne. La Commission européenne n'est pas
responsable de l'usage qui pourrait être fait des informations qui y figurent.
Die alleinige Verantwortung für den Inhalt dieser Publikation liegt bei den AutorInnen. Sie gibt nicht
unbedingt die Meinung der Europäischen Gemeinschaften wieder. Die Europäische Kommission
übernimmt keine Verantwortung für jegliche Verwendung der darin enthaltenen Informationen.
El contenido de esta publicación solo compromete a su autor y no refleja necesariamente la opinión
de las Comunidades Europeas. La Comisión Europea no es responsable de la utilización que se podrá
dar a la información que figura en la misma.
Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5
2. ESMA Recommendations ............................................................................................... 7
3. A Definition of Smart Metering ...................................................................................... 9
4. Energy feedback and the customer .............................................................................. 12
4.1. Types of feedback for consumers .......................................................................... 13
4.2. Lessons learned from experiments and field trials................................................. 18
4.3. Examination of energy and pricing display devices ................................................ 21
4.4. Recommendations ................................................................................................ 25
4.5. References ............................................................................................................ 25
5. Progress in Addressing the Barriers to Smart Metering ................................................ 28
6. Events .......................................................................................................................... 32
7. Alliance ........................................................................................................................ 34
8. Financial Toolkit ........................................................................................................... 35
9. Smart Metering Guide, Energy Saving and the Customer ............................................. 37
10. Country Progress .......................................................................................................... 38
11. PowerPlayer ................................................................................................................. 40
12. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 48
13. Smart metering and energy savings – source material ................................................. 49
Energy Supplier Schemes ............................................................................................. 49
Internet based feedback .............................................................................................. 50
In-house displays linked to meter data ......................................................................... 51
In-house displays linked to separate power transducer ................................................ 53
14. Deliverables ................................................................................................................. 56
15. Project Team ................................................................................................................ 57
1. Introduction
Smart metering is being introduced in many countries across Europe. Smart metering
facilitates the business processes of utilities but also introduces many possibilities for
energy savings and other sustainability benefits. For instance, it can provide customers with
detailed, real time information on how they use energy. For any or all of their gas, heat and
electricity supplies they can see what they are consuming, how much it is costing them and
what impact their consumption is having on greenhouse gas emissions. Smart metering, by
providing a two way communications link between the energy supplier and the customer,
can also enable a wide range of demand management tools, linking smart metering to smart
grids and distributed generation
There is strong evidence that information feedback can be used by customers to reduce
their energy consumption and, via demand management, reduce peak demands. By using
the communications link, smart metering can also allow companies to remotely manage
home automation equipment and offer energy services into the domestic sector.
This range of possibilities explains the keen interest of the Commission and Member States
and the pressure to introduce smart metering contained in the Energy Services Directive
[ESD. 2006] and the 3rd Energy Package. Governments, Regulators, energy companies,
vendors, energy agencies and consumer bodies are now engaged in complex discussions on
how to roll out smart metering and how to fund it. Italy and Sweden have now provided
smart meters to their customers, Finland is well on the way to this whilst, Ireland, the
Netherlands, Spain and the UK have now passed legislation to require smart metering whilst
in several other countries decisions are pending subject to further analysis.
Amongst all of the activity, though, it is important to remember that until now customers
have been given very little information on their energy use, beyond a quarterly bill, possibly
based on estimated readings. There is little experience of how to engage customers so that
they use the information to reduce their consumption; how they like to see the data
presented so that they can understand it, their attitude to new product offerings and
potential impacts on privacy and security. There is also very little experience with major roll
outs of smart metering technology itself.
The European Smart Metering project and Alliance were established in December 2006 with
support from the EACI to address these issues. The project team was assembled to produce
a series of Deliverables; a review of the current situation and state of the art, a Financial
Toolkit to examine the cost effectiveness of smart metering, a Guide to best practice in
smart metering and an Annual Report on progress in smart metering. All of these
Deliverables are available to download on the ESMA web site: http://www.esma-home.eu.
In parallel, an Alliance was established to bring together stakeholders and allow them to
contribute to the Deliverables and to make sure their views were included. During the last
three years ESMA has held a number of very successful events around Europe to bring this
group together and debate key issues.
This report sets out the key findings, success stories and recommendations from the ESMA
project. But it begins with a key question – what is smart metering?
2. ESMA Recommendations
The ESMA project team and Alliance has produced a set of key recommendations that are
essential if smart metering is to deliver on its promise of energy savings.
I To ensure effective engagement with customers, the energy industry should be
incentivised to maximise customer savings as appropriate to their local market
conditions
The energy savings effects of smart metering depend on achieving voluntary behaviour
change in customers whilst it is the energy industry that will implement smart metering and
will have direct control over what functionality is included. Member States and the
Commission should be aware that there are many options for smart metering and these do
not all include energy savings and demand response features or have the same energy
savings and peak load reduction effect. The energy supply industry must see a benefit from
reducing customer energy usage and offering and implementing sustainability options i.e.,
they need to benefit from reducing volume sales and from offering demand response and
other services.
II The introduction of smart metering must be done in such a way as to protect
consumers interests
Energy savings from smart metering and information feedback depends on acceptance and
understanding by consumers of the basic premise. It is vital that consumers are not
prejudiced against smart metering by perceived unfairness or undesirable outcomes.
Information on the impacts, costs and benefits to the customer resulting from the different
options for smart metering should be made available to consumers and customer bodies.
Consumers’ representatives must understand and accept the proposition. Smart meter data
should not be used for purposes that are not accepted by the consumer or their
representatives and smart meter data and systems must be secure from unauthorised
access. Consumers should receive appropriate benefits from any cost reductions achieved
by the energy supply industry resulting from smart metering although this should not
negate the financial drivers for the utilities. Finally, consumers must have options and some
control over the implementation and operation of smart metering services. The
introduction of new tariffs must be optional or agreed through consultation with Regulators
and consumer bodies.
III Energy savings depend on providing customers with real time feedback, web based
information and better billing. All feedback routes are effective in different ways
and complement each other but real time feedback requires special attention as it
involves the most changes to current practice
ESMA found that all forms of energy feedback are useful but that all have different
applications. In order to support this, customers should be given a right of access to the
meter data taken directly from their meter and smart metering functionality should include
a local (non-proprietary) interface that supports the transfer of real time feedback data to
displays and house automation networks. Electricity consumption data should be available
down to 1 sec resolution from the electricity meter and 30 min resolution for the gas and
water data. Energy agencies should be represented on the appropriate standards
development committees to ensure that the necessary data items are available from the
meter.
3. A Definition of Smart Metering
Meters have been called smart since the introduction of electronic meters that included one
or more microprocessors. For 15 years now large energy customers have been supplied with
meters that meet the present definitions of smart meter. Serious difficulties arise because
these electronic meters and supporting systems can enable a wide range of new functions
and there is no common agreement on which of these are essential for a ‘smart’ metering
system. Thus for the context of ESMA the following definition was developed:
Smart metering has the following features:
Automatic processing, transfer, management and utilisation of metering data
Automatic management of meters
2-way data communication with meters
Provides meaningful and timely consumption information to the relevant actors
and their systems, including the energy consumer
Supports services that improve the energy efficiency of the energy consumption
and the energy system (generation, transmission, distribution and especially end-
use)
Such a smart metering system may be used for one or more utilities, such as gas and
electricity, rather than having several single purpose metering systems. This definition
supports all of the objectives of the ESMA project. It should be noted that there are many
other definitions of smart metering. In many cases the differences arise from the purpose
the smart metering is being used for.
Applications of smart metering
The following applications of smart metering have been identified:
• Services for monitoring and improving energy efficiency of end use and dispersed
generation. Customer information feedback
• End use energy management
• Tariff setting (Time of Use, Maximum Demand, Seasonal)
• Energy saving
• Demand response for electricity market and for network operation support, peak
load limitation
• Smart homes, home automation, remote control of appliances by the energy or
energy service company
• Connect, disconnect, limit load remotely
• Load analysis, modelling and forecasting (for energy markets, network operation
and planning, energy saving, etc.)
• Settlement and billing
• Virtual Power Plant, embedded renewables and cogeneration
• Improving competition and efficiency in energy markets
• Customer service by DSO, RESC and ESCO including improved switching of energy
retailers
• Fraud detection
• Providing information for authorities and researchers
• Meter management
• State estimation of power distribution networks
• Monitoring of power quality and reliability
• Prepayment
• Ancillary services such as frequency controlled reserve, voltage and reactive power
control
• Analysis of failures and preventive maintenance
• Safety, security, telemedicine, social alarm services
The list above shows the range of possible applications of smart metering and highlights the
fact that many of them have no bearing at all on energy savings. It is clearly possible to
design a smart metering system that offers many of these functions without making any
impact on energy savings.
Funding smart metering
This is a profound issue for implementing smart metering as many of the functions provide
benefits to different parties. Thus the sharing of costs and benefits of smart metering is a
major challenge. It has been found in many cases around Europe that energy companies
cannot justify the cost of smart metering based on their own benefits and need a
contribution from the other beneficiaries (primarily the customers) to make the overall cost
benefit positive. This is made even more complex where the energy supply industry has
been unbundles and each party needs to find its own positive cost benefit analysis.
Stakeholders
The range of stakeholders for residential smart metering is unusually broad. There are
probably few new energy savings technologies that involve so many stakeholders and
require knowledge of so many technical areas.
• Each actor of the unbundled electricity market (all present functionally even in
monopoly and unbundled energy companies)
Generator
Transmission system operator (TSO)
Distribution system operator (DSO)
Energy retailer
Meter asset provider
Meter operator
Meter reader
• Energy services companies
• Energy consumers
• The European Commission and Member States
• Settlements and billing organisations
• Energy Regulators
• Meter vendors
• Communication system vendors
• Enterprise software vendors
• Home automation companies
• Smart grids sectors
• Consumer bodies
• Energy agencies
Such a range of stakeholders creates its own set of problems; none of the stakeholders have
detailed, or even partial, knowledge of all of the topic areas; the culture and assumptions of
many of the different groups are quite different. Add to this mix the lack of common
definitions and objectives and the different energy industry arrangements and cultures
across Europe it is easy to see what a challenge getting consensus from such a group would
be.
A key activity of the ESMA Alliance has been bringing together representatives from all of
these groups and giving them relevant briefings so that they can engage with the other
stakeholders in a positive way. This is discussed in detail in Chapter ??
4. Energy feedback and the customer
Traditionally, utility meter readings are not easily accessible to consumers. The information
is displayed in kWh, often shown as a cumulative total. And the consumer cannot access
historical or instantaneous information. Even billing is often based on estimates without
useful historical information. Except for countries where self-reading is common and meters
are freely accessible to the consumers, the meters are often put close to where the
electricity or gas supplies come into the building and are seldom easily accessible for
consumers. The majority of consumers have difficulties in locating their meters, or do not
easily understand the information displayed on the existing meters. The introduction of
smart metering in combination with feedback devices can change this to the benefit of the
customers. The most common customer benefits in short are:
The end of estimated bills. The benefit of more frequent bills based on real consumption
and without waiting for a meter reader, will certainly appeal to most consumers’ imagination. It will also tackle some of the serious debts which arise when estimated
bills grossly underestimate actual consumption. On the other hand, accurate bills mean that energy costs can also rise strongly in certain periods of the year, which could be
hard to bear for the most disadvantaged in society.
The provision of historical data on bills to show how energy consumption compares with
the same billing period of the previous year.
The possibility to become more aware of household energy consumption and the ability
to better manage energy consumption, resulting in savings on energy bills.
The ability to switch the supply contract between debit and credit without requiring
manual intervention or the installation of prepayment meters.
The ability to switch more easily between energy suppliers.
The ability to adapt energy consumption patterns to take advantage of time of use tariffs and hence lower costs.
The ability to install micro generation measures without new metering arrangements.
The possibility for prepaid or post paid schemes and easier credit, either by phone or
internet for pay as you go meters.
In the presentation of these advantages, the eventual disadvantages should not be
forgotten:
Smart metering can lead to more automation, privacy concerns and can be more vulnerable to misuse of systems or data by criminals, vandals and hackers. These
concerns should be solved by good security and appropriate regulation of the access to, and use of, the data.
Careless introduction of smart metering and related possibilities (e.g. differential tariffs) may lead to higher costs for some consumers or another form of decreased final
customer satisfaction.
But all in all, it seems that these disadvantages can be overcome and will not outweigh the
advantages. Careful piloting of both meters and feedback is essential to minimise the
disadvantages.
4.1. Types of feedback for consumers
International feedback experience in demand response pilots covers a wide range of
practices. These practices can best be understood by looking in terms of their contribution
to the technique of information dissemination and data presentation as part of a learning
process. People take in information concerning their energy use, they gain understanding by
interpreting what has happened and finally, they act/change their behaviour in some way.
Demand response is a generic term for energy delivery programs to residential and
commercial customers that combine supply with additional communication efforts in order
to encourage (or eventually enforce) reducing or shifting energy consumption for the
benefits of security of supply and climate conservation. The communication can be based on
pricing (incentive pricing and tariff schemes), limitation (load control/ pre payment) or on
consumption feedback information. The general communication objective of demand
response is to create pro-active customer participation (peak shifting or energy savings)
through greater awareness and an increased sense of responsibility.
Effective demand response schemes often include technical equipment such as smart
meters and communication applications to add feedback functionalities to the smart
meters. The level of advanced feedback functionalities will enable the full potential of
demand response.
This paragraph divides feedback into basic types, based on a mix of various degrees of:
ease, immediate and continuous information dissemination;
type, quality and quantity of data presentation;
interaction and control by the energy user.
The basic types of feedback that can be distinguished are:
1. Indirect feedback that has been processed before reaching the end-customer and
mediated through another channel;
2. Direct feedback in real time, either through an individual associated in-home display
(whole house or appliance specific) or as part of a pre payment program or time related pricing structure.
These basic types of feedback are described below.
Indirect feedback
Important characteristics for indirect feedback are that end-customers:
have no direct access to actual consumption data;
respond to previous consumption behaviour (which may have a lower information
value);
need to switch to another medium channel (e.g. bill, website etc);
need a level of commitment regarding regular use and interaction;
have to rely on processed information.
Examples of indirect feedback are frequent (e.g. day-to-day) feedback through an
interactive webpage on internet, PC, e-mail, SMS or frequent periodic informative billing.
These types of feedback are based on smart meter readings with a combination of:
historical feedback;
comparative feedback;
normative feedback;
disaggregated feedback (e.g. the heating load at different times of year);
detailed annual or two-monthly energy reports.
Research findings indicate that savings from indirect feedback range from 0% to 10%, but
can vary according to context and the quality of information given. There are also
indications that indirect feedback is more suitable than direct feedback for demonstrating
effects on consumption of changes in space heating, household composition and the impact
of investments in efficiency measures or high-consuming appliances. In other words,
indirect feedback will show up longer term effects best, such as investment in insulation,
use of new appliances, replacement of heating systems and appliances, home extensions,
new members of the household.
Better billing can - when combined with an in-house display - contribute to final customer
awareness of energy and environment and help them to make reduction decisions. Of
course information alone will not deliver energy savings. However once consumers are
aware of their use, particularly in times of increasing energy costs, it is reasonable to believe
that they are much more likely to reduce usage.
Direct feedback and individual in-home displays
Ideally, every household should continuously and instantaneously be able to see what is
happening to consumption and directly respond to it without having to switch on an
optional feedback service. The main characteristic for direct feedback is that final customers
have an easily-accessible display monitor, associated with the smart meter. The role of the
meter is to provide a clearly-understood point of reference for improved feedback in
combination with a separate, free-standing or easily accessible and easy to understand
display monitor in the building. The consumption information displayed can either be in
kWh, in currency or CO2 and be presented at a total level or at a more disaggregated level
(depending on sub-meters or on signal recognition capability).
Taking data directly from the meter also means that the information can be real time,
greatly increasing its value and effectiveness. Recent developments in domestic
communications provide paths for the data and destinations. For instance, the data can be
transmitted via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, PLC, and Ethernet (see Chapter Error! Reference source
ot found. “Smart metering systems - technical options”) to a standalone display, the TV or a
home PC. All of these destinations allow the data to be brought in somewhere convenient
for the final customer. Data visualisation through a standalone direct display is in this
respect most interesting. Both TV and Internet/PC require final customers to make an extra
effort to locate the information (and therefore are considered to be indirect feedback).
A well known example of direct feedback is an associated direct display on a monitor
separate from the meter. Householders can look at the displays for instantaneous
information and in some cases they can also set an alarm to go off when the load rises
above a level chosen by them. A potentially effective way to increase the final customer’s
awareness is to provide them with special in-house displays of readable, easy to
comprehend energy use information, in a display design chosen by them. Once the
consumers can see the changes in their energy use instantaneously on a display design
chosen by them, they are much more likely to act to reduce that consumption, particularly
in the present higher fuel pricing environment.
According to Parker, Hoak, Meir and Brown [Parker 2006], there is a parallel with hybrid
automobiles (e.g. the Toyota Prius). Here accumulating evidence suggests that feedback
from dashboard-mounted displays allows drivers to improve their mileage as they learn
from experience. The important reason for this is that drivers suddenly have an immediate
feedback about how various aspects of their driving habits shape mileage.
Research literature indicates that savings from direct energy feedback devices range from
5% to 15%. Savings are typically of the order of 10% for relatively simple displays [Darby
2006]. Over half of those interviewed during trials said that they would like to have such a
display permanently. There are also indications customers with a high energy use may
respond more to direct feedback than customers with a low energy use, because direct
displays best show up the significance of moment-to-moment behaviour.
Real-time feedback can possibly also tell the final customer about the relative importance of
different end-uses. For instance, an instantaneous, easily accessible display may show the
surge in consumption when the kettle is switched on, or the relative significance of a radio,
vacuum-cleaner or toaster. Presumably for this to be effective, the display must react within
a given time – less than the duration of the activity. At present, fully disaggregated feedback
using signal recognition of different appliances is relatively expensive and complicated to
supply, though this may change within the next few years. Customers may need guidance on
the relative importance of large short duration loads, compared to small long duration
loads.
Direct feedback and prepaid systems
Older prepay meters tend to be ‘semi-smart’, because they lack a two way communication
module within the meter. Other relevant characteristics of traditional prepayment are the
focus on budget management of costs and the transfer of information such as tariff-changes
and meter reading data to and from the key code at the payment point or shop.
Modern prepaid systems however have the potential to be much more than just a
traditional option to low-income final customers in general. Research literature indicates
that savings to date for all keypad final customers are estimated to range broadly from 3%
to approx. 15%. An example is the situation in Northern Ireland where prepayment has been
offered to all final customers; 27% have taken the option, only 45% of whom are classed as
low income [Oxford 2008].
Direct feedback and time related pricing (different tariffs)
Time related pricing is important in those parts of the world with:
summer and winter peaks in demand allied with supply constraints: California,
Ontario, the north-eastern states of the USA, Nordic countries, parts of Australia and southern Europe;
fluctuating market prices due to high penetration of intermittent generation (such as wind power in Denmark) or high penetration of invariable generation (such as
nuclear power in France).
Regarding electricity tariff structures, it is relevant to distinguish between pricing of
electricity (as a commodity) and transmission and distribution of electricity (as a service). In
deregulated electricity markets, formation of the price for these two things is different:
The commodity prices is based on market transactions and should ideally correspond
to the electricity generation costs;
The distribution tariff is regulated as a natural monopoly and reflects the allowed
costs for investments in and maintenance and operation of the transmission and distribution infrastructure.
This is relevant, because in some countries such as the Nordic countries, final customers
receive separate bills for these.
In general, three broad types of time related pricing methods can be distinguished:
1. Time-of-use / time-of-day tariffs reflect daily and seasonal variations in electricity costs.
These are fixed in advance based on estimated costs. These tariffs reflect expected costs
during peak, shoulder and off-peak periods of the day. Customers are informed of the
different time periods and prices on their bills and on their meter display. Time of use tariffs
are widely used in Finland for instance.
2. Actual cost tariffs (real time pricing/ spot pricing) require final customers to pay, in each
(half) hour period, the actual cost of electricity. The price is usually known shortly before the
time of use. Customers are alerted to these prices through the meter display. This form of
pricing is in use in Norway and is planned for introduction in California.
3. Critical-peak pricing is the application of different prices for specific hours of the year,
when the system is stressed or hourly energy market prices are high. In this case, final
customers pay a time of day price most of the time and a high or critical peak price at times
when it is important to reduce demand. This type of pricing is used in France (called the
Tempo tariff) and final customers see a red light on their meter a day before the critical
peak period begins.
The main advantage of time-of-use pricing is that final customers know the price well in
advance of consuming electricity. However, this may also be the main disadvantage, when
price variations in the market do not follow regular patterns. In order to provide final
customers with predictable prices, such tariffs are unlikely to reflect the actual cost of
producing electricity at any point in time (as the prices are set in advance and based on
forecasts of costs). Real time pricing trades predictability for price accuracy, while critical
peak pricing falls somewhere in between real time and time-of-use pricing in terms of
predictability and accuracy.
The main purpose of time sensitive pricing is not end use energy savings. They may even
increase energy end use. The point is that the total energy consumption in the whole system
is, in most cases, reduced by responding to market prices and system requests. This because
less efficient generating plants, which are normally used to meet peak demand, are required
less often. That is a goal of any reasonable energy saving policy. The primary energy saving
from demand response however depends on what peak generation plant is no longer
required.
In Scandinavian countries there is much electrical heating and therefore a lot of potential
for real time pricing and other types of demand response. In countries with summer peak,
as in southern Europe, air conditioning and cooling loads also have much potential for real
time pricing. In other parts of Europe, there seems to be less scope for load-shifting among
domestic consumers. Moreover, most households have gas heating, while almost all the rest
use off-peak electricity, oil or solid fuel for their heating. In short, opportunities for reducing
peak usage seem to be limited. Nevertheless, time-of-use or real-time pricing may become
more important as part of more sophisticated demand response policies and as more air-
conditioning or distributed generation come on stream.
4.2. Lessons learned from experiments and field trials
In the last couple of years, there has been growing interest in the potential benefits of
introducing smart metering and how this should be done. It has become a ‘hot’ topic in
countries such as UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Italy, Australia and Scandinavia. Despite
these recent developments, there is still relatively limited quantitative evidence from recent
smart metering projects designed to promote energy savings in households. Researching the
effectiveness of feedback on gas and electricity consumption does not have a long and
intensive (scientific) tradition. Most evidence so far is based on small-scale trials and only
very few have been longitudinal enough to judge whether the response is likely to last or
can be built upon. Further, complicating factors are the low level of interest of most
consumers in their energy usage, the difficulty of measuring feedback savings and the
minimum persistence of effects for at least three months. Chapter Error! Reference source
ot found. “Determining energy saving gains using field trials” expands on this topic.
Another complicating factor to be expected from experiences from field trials is the
difficulty of comparing these studies. All contain a different mix of elements such as sample
size, housing type, additional interventions, and financial influences, household
Load management in non-liberalised markets
The term Load Management is known in non liberalised markets under other names such as
direct load control, demand side management, peak load control, etc. Reducing maximum
capacity at critical time periods (peak load shifting/ trimming) can be exercised either
indirectly, as described above, when the customer makes choices in line with time-sensitive
pricing options offered by the utility (demand response), or through utility-controlled load
management (direct load control). Direct load control only involves feedback in an
automated sense. For example, changes in electricity demand can trigger the switching off
or on of appliances, or, when household renewables are available, their output can be
matched to the use of appliances such as washing machines.
The extent to which load management leads to carbon emission reductions depends on the
way the electricity system is implemented and operated and, in practice, different results
are obtained. There is no general conclusion. But reduced demand or the reduction in use of
high carbon intensity generation plant at peak periods can lower emissions. King and
Delurey discuss the relationship between demand response and demand reduction [King
2005]. The benefits in terms of security of supply are clearer cut. Direct load management
can have other effects if combined with the use of smart appliances, building services and
household renewables. The ability of a washing machine, for example, to only operate when
there is a low carbon electricity supply available can increase the carbon abatement
possibilities significantly.
composition, feedback frequency and duration. Further, recorded feedback savings can
dramatically differ according to the technology under consideration, the quality of feedback
information and the way in which studies are conducted, the institutional and cultural
background (lifestyles) and of course climatic conditions against which the study takes
place..
The best feedback technique is likely to evolve over time as various approaches are tried
and evaluated. Home ICT is evolving very fast and in a landscape where all appliances and
multimedia applications will be linked together, innovative techniques like pop up
messaging on the TV set when it is put on could be more effective than a specialized screen
displaying the same messages all the time.
Nevertheless, this Guide includes lessons from what is known so far about the effectiveness
of feedback to householders regarding energy consumption behaviour. As stated before, it
is expected that within a relatively short period of time a lot of experiments that are
currently underway will deliver new insights and other experiments will be started. So this
section is about basic understanding of the factors that influence the impact of smart
metering and feedback on consumer demand.
Top 5 key findings of feedback
Energy feedback can take many forms and several studies have analysed the effect of
feedback on domestic energy behaviours [i.e. Abrahamse 2005 and Darby 2006]. Feedback
methods include giving final customers instantaneous, historic or comparative feedback,
prepayment / pay-as-you-go, or any of these in combination with other types of
information. Technologies include advanced billing, displays, internet etc. Based on a broad
sample of experiments and international literature reviews, the Top 5 interesting findings
regarding the use of methods and techniques of feedback are:
1. Time between behaviour and -accuracy of- feedback on resulting energy use and cost is crucial:
2. Direct feedback seems to be more effective than indirect feedback (up to 10% for indirect feedback, up to 15% for direct feedback and up to 20% in pre payment
programs);
3. Feedback seems to be more effective when accompanied with goal setting;
4. Historic feedback seems to be more effective than comparative or normative feedback;
5. There is more preference for information feedback through an enhanced direct display
than through a website.
The last finding is particularly interesting for countries with a high level of internet
penetration and on line tasking such as in the USA. According to a National Residential
Online Panel In-home Display Survey, conducted by Energy Insights in October 2007
[Borstein and Blackmore 2007], more than 60% of the 270 respondents preferred to have
some sort of direct display for energy information and communication. Only 3% of the
respondents preferred an internet website.
The last finding also seems to account for most European countries, according to a pan
European market research in 2007 on the role of information and technology and consumer
preferences regarding the use of feedback technologies in facilitating energy saving
behaviour (see Table 3.1 below).
Table 4-1 Preferred communication technology for receiving smart meter feedback information
(More options possible, boldface indicates highest score)
Country involved in market research
Information on
screen / direct
display
More
detailed
bills
Personalized web
page(s)
Telephone
services
Finland 68% 46% 34% 10%
Norway 54% 29% 32% 10%
Sweden 49% 28% 39% 5%
Denmark 58% 29% 41% 10%
Netherlands 39% 25% 23% 10%
France 57% 53% 28% 9%
Germany 61% 66% 32% 5%
Great Britain 59% 61% 30% 20%
Spain 50% 73% 29% 23%
Portugal 22% 32% 18% 5%
Average 55% 57% 30% 11%
Source: Logica CMG, based on TNS/ Future foundation research, 2007.
Although the results vary greatly depending on the country surveyed, looking at Europe as a
whole, there is a clear indication that the most preferred method of receiving smart meter
information is not through personalized web pages, but either through a screen/ direct
display showing up-to-date energy usage information or through more detailed billing.
Just as in USA, the low preference for a personalized webpage is surprisingly clearly visible
in the European countries with the highest levels of internet penetration, such as the
Scandinavian countries. Most consumers here are experienced users of the internet and
often more inclined to carry out a wider range of tasks on the internet, including bill
payment. Research carried out by Nvision in 2007 [Logica CMG 2007] found that 92% of
Norwegians, 79% of Swedes and 68% of Danes had paid a regular bill online in the past six
months, compared with a European average of 23%.
More detailed billing will probably become popular in Spain, Portugal and Germany, but
finds less favour in the Scandinavian countries, Denmark and The Netherlands. Consumers
in these countries prefer to receive information as and when they want it, either on a
personalized web page or on a display.
Telephone services such as call centres only find favour in Spain and Great Britain as a
method of delivering information. In Great Britain consumers are familiar with these centres
as a method of obtaining information although something of a national love/hate
relationship exists (with sentiment skewed toward the latter). It is therefore reasonable to
assume that higher than average preference for call centres comes from familiarity rather
than affection.
The broad European preference for direct displays and more detailed billing instead of
personalized web pages is a rather surprising outcome. This indicates that consumers point
at an important shortcoming of web based applications: there is a latent but strong desire of
consumers to get information on energy consumption that is immediate, instantaneous and
continuously visible. Consumers realize that energy is invisible to the user and that they
have only a vague idea of how much they are using for different purposes and what
difference they could make by changing their day-to-day behaviour or investing in efficiency
measures. In order to manage their energy consumption better, consumers simply need to
see what is happening to consumption, without having to switch on an optional feedback
medium.
However, it must be stressed that –although the internet is unlikely to become an adequate
communication substitute for a direct display- web services and on line billing can provide
useful interactive feedback and can incorporate further analysis and advice on a more long
term basis. This finds support in a recent market survey, in the UK [ONZO 2008]. This survey
showed a close correlation between the preferred type of device on the one hand and the
type of decisions consumers take on the other hand:
Direct energy display for real time insight and rapid tactical decisions (seconds/
days);
Web services to view longer term effects of their actions goals (weeks/ months);
Bill/ personalised reports to view long term trends and advice on strategic decisions (month/ years).
4.3. Examination of energy and pricing display devices
It is generally expected that consumer interest in, and demand for, in-home energy displays
will grow rapidly. Although the use of in-home energy display devices is still limited, they
represent a ready technology to educate customers about their energy use and maximize
participation rates for energy conservation and dynamic pricing programs. For this reason,
energy and utility companies are increasingly interested in the potential of these devices to
affect customers' energy use behaviour.
This chapter focuses on the latest developments in in-home displays by illustrating examples
of the energy information technologies currently available on the market or soon to enter
commercialization. The purpose of this information is to assist energy companies and
technology vendors in getting up to speed rapidly and staying abreast of developments
relative to in-home displays in the energy industry. While doing this, it is at the same time
interesting to take note of two fundamental changes that take place in the development of
in-home displays.
The first fundamental development is a shift from ‘non-communicating’ towards more
‘communicating displays’.
Most existing, relatively simple in-home displays are primarily designed to provide energy
only information such as electricity usage and are not integrated with utility metering
systems or home automation networks (HANs). This means that there is no communication
with the utility and no possibility to handle dynamic pricing. The display data collection
depends on techniques such as an optical sensor or a current-transformer (CT) at the
electrical panel. A well known example of this type of display is The Energy Detective (TED),
which is described below.
But now a new generation of devices is coming into commercialization that can
communicate with smart meters to provide dynamic rate information, appliance control and
other advanced features. Within this new generation of communicating displays, another
interesting development is occurring: a shift from utility based displays towards more
customer based displays. Many of the new communicating energy displays that can be
connected to some type of (smart) network can only work in conjunction with that specific
metering system. The communicating energy displays are primarily designed to help the
utility to control energy load and achieve better demand response during peak events. An
example of this type of displays is the Ecometer, a display monitor that exclusively works
with a Landis+Gyr meter with a communications chip.
But recently a growing number of energy displays can be qualified as customer centric.
These displays can be installed individually, do not depend on a specific utility network and
allow the customer to respond at the level of energy use they are comfortable with. An
example of this type of displays is the ONZO a stylish, modern designed display monitor
which is described below.
The Energy Detective (TED)
The Energy Detective (TED) by Energy,
Inc. is an energy display that shows
instantaneous kW and month-to-date
kWh. It also projects what the use at end
of month will be. It is somewhat
programmable for complex rates such as
time-of-use. TED communicates the data
via power line to the display unit, which
can be moved and plugged into any
outlet. Data displayed include:
instantaneous use (kW and $), use today
(kWh and $), use month-to-date (kWh
and $), projected monthly bill, peak
demand (kW and $), voltage (current, highest and lowest today), and current electricity rate.
It also has an alarm that can be programmed in various ways: if cost/hour or kW/hour
exceed limit, if $ or kWh per day or month-to-date or monthly projection exceed limit, and
for low or high voltage.
The design is very simple and easy to read. TED displays instantaneous and month-to-date
energy use and cost. It also has an audible alarm and red and yellow LEDs. TED stores 2
months worth of hourly readings. The user can download the data to a computer for further
analysis. TED is very accurate and programmable. The user can input rate details, including
flat fees, time-of-use or demand pricing, and taxes. Based on these data, TED can estimate
the electric bill accurately. However, there will always be some discrepancy because the
exact time of the utility read will vary.
TED is a so-called clip-on device and requires electrician to install the current transformer.
Data is communicated to display device through power line communication. The display
itself can be plugged into any standard electrical outlet.
Ecometer (Landis+Gyr)
The Ecometer is a wired or wireless display monitor that exclusively works with a Landis+Gyr
meter with a communications chip. The monitor communicates with the metering system
and can display load profile data for electricity, gas and water. In the optimal configuration
the meter and display unit are part of an integrated utility communications infrastructure
network. The display gets the data directly from the meter and is programmed with all
components of the utility tariff. Because the meter has two-way communication with the
utility, it can accurately show energy cost for excessive usage, current Time-of use-pricing
and usage based on cost information that matches the bill exactly.
Figure 4-1 The Energy Detective (source: Energy
Inc.)
An interesting extra is the visual colour coded
indications running from red to green to indicate
the level of consumption or current energy tariff
down to customer level. It also shows historic and
carbon data.
ONZO
The ONZO is a stylish, modern designed portable consumer unit from the UK that monitors
energy consumption, sometimes referred to as the “dashboard for your home”. ONZO’s
battery-free innovative energy display works with a smart meter in order to provide real-
time feedback on energy use by interactive sharing information with a computer to allow
comparing performance with others and analysis of energy usage down to the appliance
level.
The Onzo collects and logs
electricity data directly from the
meter in order to help consumers
determine carbon emissions with
advanced metering infrastructure
devices (gadgets), such as a wireless
PC dongle, individual appliance
meters and clip-on sensors and a
web interface where users can
chart and track their energy use.
Once the ONZO is hooked up to a
computer, it will take the customer
straight to a website with information for comparing one’s home’s carbon footprint over
time — or with everyone else.
The energy company Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is behind the financing because
they hope to find a marketing advantage by giving their customers the Onzo as a more
powerful tool for power management.
Figure 4-3 ONZO energy display (source: ONZO)
Figure 4-2 Ecometer display (source: Landis & Gyr)
4.4. Recommendations
When designing customer feedback for smart metering schemes, the following observations
should be fully taken account of:
Consumers need to be able to see instantaneously and continuously what is happening to their consumption, without having to switch on an optional in-home feedback device first;
Direct feedback promises to be more effective than indirect feedback;
Feedback promises to be more effective when accompanied with goal setting;
Historic feedback promises to be more effective than comparative or normative
feedback;
Direct displays in combination with better billing promises to be a more preferred way of communication for consumers than feedback through an indirect (delayed) personalized web page
Internet promises to provide useful additional feedback through incorporation of further
analysis and advice on a longer term basis.
Regulators should ensure that there are no financial, commercial, legal or regulatory
barriers to customers having access to real time data from utility meters measuring their
supply.
4.5. References
[Abrahamse 2005] Abrahamse, W., Steg, L. et al., A review of intervention studies
aimed at household energy conservation. Journal of
Environmental Psychology 25: 273 – 291.
[Allen 2006] Allen D and Janda K, Oberlin College, The effects of household
characteristics and energy use consciousness on the
effectiveness of real-time energy use feedback, proceedings,
American Council for an Energy-efficient Economy, p. 7-1 – 7
12.
[Borstein 2008] Borstein J and Blackmore K, In-Home Display Units: an
Evolving market Part 1 and 2, Energy Insights/ IDC Company,
USA
[CER 2007] Commission for Energy Regulation, Demand Side
Management and Smart metering, 07/038, Ireland
[Darby 1999] Darby S, Energy advice – what is it worth? Proceedings,
European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer
Study, paper III.05
[Darby 2001] Darby S, Making it obvious: designing feedback into energy
consumption. Proceedings, 2nd International Conference on
Energy Efficiency in Household Appliances and Lighting. Italian
Association of Energy Economists/ EC-SAVE programme.
[Darby 2006] Darby S The effectiveness of feedback on Energy
Consumption, a review for DEFRA of the literature on metering,
billing and direct displays. A review for DEFRA of the literature
on metering, billing and direct displays, Environmental Change
Institute University of Oxford
[Dobbyn 2005] Dobbyn J and Thomas G, Seeing the light: the impact of micro
generation on the way we use energy. Qualitative research
findings. Hub Research Consultants, London, on behalf of the
Sustainable Consumption Roundtable
[IEA-DSM 2005] Smaller customer energy saving by end-use monitoring and
feedback. International Energy Agency Demand-side
Management Programme Task XI, Subtask 1. From Richard
Formby, EA Technology, Chester
[IEA-DSM 2005] Time of use pricing for demand management delivery.
International Energy Agency Demand-side Management
Programme Task XI, Subtask 2.
[Janssen 2007] Janssen E, Jonkers R en Gelissen R, Effectiviteit van feedback
bij huishoudelijk energieverbruik, voorstudie ten behoeve van
optimalisering van de feedback bij de slimme meter, ResCon
Research and Consultancy Haarlem, 2007.
[King 2005] King C and Delurey D Twins, Siblings or cousins? Analyzing
the conservation effects of demand response programs. Public
Utilities Fortnightly, March 2005.
[Lees 2007] Lees E, Smart Meters – Costs and Consumer Benefits, Report
to Energy watch
[Logica CMG 2007] Logica CMG, Turning concern into Action: Energy Efficiency
and the European consumer. London, 2007.
[Mountain 2006] Mountain D, The impact of real-time feedback on residential
electricity consumption: the Hydro One pilot. Mountain
Economic Consulting and Associates Inc., Ontario
[Ofgem 2006] Domestic metering innovation. Consultation document. Ofgem
[ONZO 2008] Better demand response through customer engagement.
Presentation at Metering Europe 2008 in Amsterdam
[Owen 2006] Owen G and Ward J, Smart meters: commercial, policy and
regulatory drivers. Sustainability First, London
[Parker 2006] Parker D and Hoak D, Meir A and Brown R, How much energy
are we using?, potential of residential energy demand feedback
devices, Florida Solar Energy Centre and Lawrence Berkeley
National Labatory, USA,2006 ACEEE Summer study on
Energy Efficiency in buildings, p. 1-211 – 1.222.
[Stein 2004] Stein L, Californian Information Display Pilot. Technology
Assessment prepared for Southern California Edison, Primen
,USA
[Ueno 2005] Ueno T, Inada R, Saeki O and Tsuji K, Effectiveness of
displaying energy Consumption data in residential houses.
Analysis on how the residents respond. Proceedings, European
Council for an Energy-efficient Economy, paper 6.100
[Uitdenbogerd 2007] Uitdenbogerd D, Energy and Households, a Dutch dissertation
on the acceptance of energy reduction options in relation to the
performance and organisation of household activities,
Wageningen University, The Netherlands
[Völlink 2004] Völlink T, Go for less, a Dutch research-dissertation on the
effects of feedback in relation to goal setting on household
energy and water consumption in The Netherlands, University
of Maastricht, The Netherlands
5. Progress in Addressing the Barriers to Smart Metering
Not withstanding the many benefits of smart metering, its introduction will result in many
changes and face many barriers. The ESMA project team reviewed the barriers and these
are listed below. The most significant barriers that prevent the general introduction of smart
metering within the EU and outside Europe are:
• There remains much uncertainty about the quantification of benefits, especially
related to energy savings, because practical experience and historical data are
lacking.
• There are many parties involved, and the benefits of smart metering may accrue to
other parties than the ones that bear the costs.
• Large scale roll outs of smart metering are very long and costly processes, requiring
considerable capital expenditures from the responsible market actors. In many EU
countries, there is strong opposition from regulators to increasing the tariffs to final
users to pay for it.
• There is still no interoperability between different owner’s assets: there are no open
registered standards that properly scope all of the different functions (metering,
communications, display, and network). The lack of adequate common requirements
on functionality and open interfaces (interoperability) fractionalizes the market and
increases costs both for smart metering and for the applications and services that
use metered data.
• There is also a lack of modularity and flexibility of present mass market smart
metering products so that customising systems to meet the local requirements of
distributed generation, demand response, power quality, customer information,
energy efficiency automation and services, etc. can only be meet with high extra
costs.
Law and “Lack of Law” barriers
Smart metering initiatives come mostly from governments so the future of smart metering
will depend heavily on the policy and decisiveness of the governmental bodies involved.
Smart Metering implementation is a very long and costly process, requiring considerable
capital expenditures from the responsible market actors. Committing to these investments
requires clear policy decisions from government and regulatory certainty regarding key
decisions, so as not to deter investment.
The choice of regulatory policies to promote smart metering depends not only on the
national legal framework and on the stage of market liberalization but also on the public or
industry drivers for smart metering. The type of metering regime (regulated or liberalized)
as well as the ownership of the meters can influence the benefits realized from smart
metering and their cost effectiveness as an investment.
Roll out mandates are a normal starting point and they are usually combined with specific
regulatory tools covering technical, functional and economical aspects. But in some other
cases current regulatory imperfections lead to inefficiency and distort a fair cost-benefit
analysis of smart metering. For example, in most of the EU countries there is no time of use
tariffs so there is no incentive for final customers to reduce demand at peak times. In some
countries such tariffs are not allowed.
Another example of “law barrier” is that in some countries the network operator revenues
increase with electricity consumption discouraging them to adopt any measure that reduce
final customer electricity consumption.
Countering this, the additional requirements of the 3rd Energy Package will put more
pressure onto members states to take action while concerted action by ERGEG to align
European regulation should minimise distortions.
Economical barriers
There are economic barriers that hamper the introduction of smart metering:
• There is still much uncertainty about the quantification of benefits as practical
experience and historical data are lacking on which to base them.
• There are many parties involved and the benefits of smart metering may accrue to
other parties than the ones that bear the costs. Several market actors are expected
to have direct or indirect benefits from mandatory implementation of Smart
Metering but they may not share the costs and benefits equitably. Capital and
installation costs are normally solely covered by a local DSO (metering is controlled
by Energy Suppliers companies ONLY in UK) which is responsible for the metering
but may receive only partial benefit while many benefits go to the energy retailer
who cannot influence the design of the system.
• Large scale roll outs of smart metering are very long and costly processes, requiring
considerable capital expenditures from the responsible market actors. In many EU
countries, there is strong opposition from regulators to increasing the tariffs to final
users to pay for it.
• There is no expectation of obtaining grant aid or subsidies from the governments to
install smart metering in many of the EU countries.
• High investment costs expose the responsible actors to considerable financial risks
during the implementation, commissioning and normal operation period of the
system. Such a large investment requires at least to be sanctioned by governments
to prevent future regulation undermining the investment.
• Smart metering also entails an organizational challenge. The purchase and
commissioning of Smart Metering equipment requires involvement of highly-skilled
personnel. This is often a problem for small- and medium-size market actors, which
do not have sufficient technical expertise for the initial procurement process.
Additionally there are several cost-driving activities during installation of the
equipment, related to logistics and working crews.
• Shorter life time of electronic meters in comparison with electromechanical meters
reduces the return of investment of a smart metering implementation.
Technical barriers
There are also technical barriers that stop the implementation of smart metering in a large
scale:
Although there are some commercial systems capable of supporting AMI, there is an
important lack of interoperability among these systems, which prevents the large scale
adoption of the smart multi metering technology. So, the main problem for the large
adoption of AMI, is the lack of a set of widely accepted open standards capable of
guaranteeing the interoperability of systems and devices produced by different
manufacturers. The lack of adequate common requirements on functionality and open
interfaces (interoperability) fractionalizes the market and increases costs both for smart
metering and for the applications and services that use metered data.
There is also a lack of modularity and lack of flexibility of present mass smart metering so
special needs regarding distributed generation, demand response, power quality, customer
information, energy efficiency automation and services, etc. will only be meet with extra
high costs.
A large scale roll out of AMR/AMM without adequate requirements and standardization
may prevent the development of services and applications that are based on smart
metering infrastructure until it is time for the next roll out after 10 years or so. On the other
hand poorly designed standardization can prevent development and innovation.
There is also a weak cooperation between DOSs/RESCs and AMR equipment manufacturers.
Joint initiatives, common approaches and consensus, especially on AMR technologies and
data transmission, could speed up development of smart metering. Also important in this
context is multi utility metering where there is a need for integration of the different
systems.
Installation of Smart Metering requires skilled manpower to replace the meters. If the
implementation period is short or/and several DSOs are running the process simultaneously,
it may create serious problems due to limited access to local manpower.
Furthermore, when a single country implements a mandatory requirement for
implementation of Smart Metering within a relatively short time period, it may easily create
a shortage of the Smart Metering equipment on the market and cause unnecessary
complications for the process.
Several potential risk factors are caused by the present situation in production of Smart
Metering equipment. It is a fairly small industry, which is still growing and evolving, with few
well-established and renowned vendors and several middle-sized and small ones. During the
last years there have been several bankruptcies, mergers and takeovers in this sector. In
some cases it resulted to discontinuation of supplies and support to already installed
equipment. Several utilities share a concern that it is difficult to find reliable and competent
suppliers of equipment, especially when it comes to small utilities, which do not have as
strong bargaining position as big ones. There are several examples of big utilities purchasing
a share in Smart Metering vendor companies in order to secure their projects.
Although still valid these barriers are being addressed. The European Commission has
issued Mandate M/441 to the European Standardisation Bodies to ensure that there are
open standards available covering smart metering sufficient to ensure that interoperability
can be ensured. In addition, the FP7 OpenMeter project is being carried out with strong
involvement from energy companies and vendors to support M/441 and to carry out more
detailed technical work to identify and agree solutions and provide the market with
confidence in the solutions.
Awareness and knowledge related barriers (on society level)
Another potential risk to hamper the introduction of smart metering is the negative
customer reaction due to different factors:
• Customers may be unaware of smart metering initiative.
• Customers may be concerned about privacy of data and will refuse to participate to
show disagreement with the initiative.
• Customers may consider smart metering implementation as a way to increase their
bills.
• Customer’s will complain if after the implementation the expected benefits do not
materialize.
• Customers may not be satisfied with the implementation plan.
• Customers do not understand rate structures and think that smart metering will not
help them to reduce their energy bills.
• Customers think that they cannot decrease their energy consumption without
compromising their living standard.
To mitigate this potential risks, it is necessary to establish a careful and properly
orchestrated communication and education plan to final customers and a well thought out
installation process, clearly communicated to customers to minimize their inconvenience
during the installation phase.
6. Events
The ESMA project team organised a number of events for the Alliance membership. These
were:
• Warsaw, Poland, 23rd January 2008
• Porto, Portugal, 27th June 2008
• Varese, Italy, 16th - 17th February 2009
• Espoo, Finland, 16th June 2009
• Oxford, UK, 26th – 27th October 2009
These events were arranged to coincide with project review meetings as the full project
team were available to participate in and contribute to the events. Some of the events
were organised by the host project partner (KAPE and SPEC in Warsaw, EDV in Porto and
VTT in Espoo). For Varese and Oxford the events were organised jointly, with the Joint
Research Centre for Varese and the Energy Research Centre for Oxford. For each event, the
full ESMA Alliance was invited along with local stakeholders and, where it was a joint event,
the co-hosts network.
Key lessons from events
These events proved to be very successful and a number of lessons were drawn from this.
• The events were targeted at energy savings
Although there are a large number of smart metering events these are normally
dominated by either utilities or vendors and the focus is on equipment and
systems.
• The events achieved a good blend of stakeholder groups
Efforts were made to ensure that all stakeholder groups were represented and also
that none were over-represented. This ensured that all sides of the debate could
be represented and delegates were able (indeed were obliged) to talk to experts
from other fields in the formal and informal sessions.
• As much as possible, the events were workshops and delegates were involved
Smart metering covers so many areas of expertise it was necessary to spend some
time informing delegates of the key issues related to other topics but this was kept
to a minimum so that delegates were able to make their own contribution. Each
event was assigned some specific questions to address.
• Following the event, a dialogue was continued via email
This allowed the delegates to be kept involved and was used to bring the discussion
to a conclusion when this had not been possible during the event itself.
• The events established pockets of interest in ESMA across Europe
Each of the events strengthened the ESMA network and they were an effective tool
for recruiting good (active) members into the Alliance.
Future events
Although the ESMA Alliance is being concluded, there does appear to be an appetite for
similar events in Europe, especially in the early stages of the roll out of smart metering in
Europe when there are so many lessons to learn and key decisions to be made.
7. Alliance
An Alliance was set up in parallel with the ESMA project. The intention of this was to engage
stakeholders in the project and gather their input to the development of the Deliverables.
This was seen to be necessary both to ensure that the Deliverables reflected a consensus
(where possible) and took account of the views of all stakeholders. Alliance members were
provided with their own web site where draft Deliverables were stored as well as the final
versions. Membership was open to all interested parties with a small annual fee of €500 for
corporate entities.
Alliance membership
The ESMA Alliance was very successful in involving all stakeholder groups as shown in the
figures below:
The Alliance is to be offered the opportunity to align with a new project that is being
established and will seek to extend the activities of ESMA.
Stakeholder group
Academic 29
Association 8
Charity 1
Consultancy 18
Consumer body 2
DSO 5
Energy agency 8
Government 1
Vendor 15
Press 1
Regulator 4
Energy retailer 10
Service provider 16
Total 118
8. Financial Toolkit
A major barrier to smart metering is the difficulty of carrying out a cost benefit analysis that
is acceptable to all parties. However, all roll out decisions will require a positive cost benefit
analysis. This has created a real need for a consistent means of assessing the economics of
smart metering schemes. To this end a financial toolkit was developed by the ESMA project
team. The toolkit comprises an Excel Spreadsheet and a report, which describes the model,
suggests means for modelling the various individual costs related to smart metering and lists
reasonable input variables.
Purpose of toolkit
The purpose of the Financial Toolkit is:
• To provide guidance to those developing their own cost benefit analysis on which
costs to include and how to model them.
• To provide a tool for use by non-utility stakeholders to explore the cost benefit of
smart metering implementations and investigate the impacts of different
implementation options and cost assumptions.
• To provide a reference list of ‘reasonable’ input values to be used in this model and
others.
• The financial toolkit will be updated annually so that it can track the improvement
in understanding in how costs and benefits can be modelled and the input
variables.
The model allows the various costs and benefits to be assigned to different stakeholders, so
as to allow it to be used for different market arrangements across Europe.
The Excel spreadsheet is available to the public and can be downloaded from the download
section of the ESMA web site http://www.esma-home.eu.
Output from model
The model takes input from a data file and outputs the results to a series of charts and
tables. Results are shown below for an analysis of a roll out of electric and gas smart
metering in the UK.
The overall net present values for each stakeholder are shown in a Table, shown below.
0.00E+00
5.00E+07
1.00E+08
1.50E+08
2.00E+08
2.50E+08
3.00E+08
3.50E+08
4.00E+08
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Cu
rren
cy u
nit
sMeter installation and installation costs
BAU BB RTF
0.00E+00
5.00E+07
1.00E+08
1.50E+08
2.00E+08
2.50E+08
3.00E+08
3.50E+08
4.00E+08
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
£
Annual spend on meters
BAU BB RTF
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
Millio
ns
Overall Stakeholder BenefitsReal Time Feedback
RESC DSO MAP MOP DC Customer Total
Y e a r to re v i e w N P V 1 0 2 0 3 0
R E S C 2 .1 3 E + 1 0 5 .6 0 E + 1 0 1 .0 4 E + 1 1
D S O 4 .1 6 E + 0 8 6 .0 0 E + 0 9 1 .1 5 E + 1 0
M A P 0 .0 0 E + 0 0 0 .0 0 E + 0 0 0 .0 0 E + 0 0
M O -4 .0 9 E + 0 7 -5 .0 9 E + 0 8 - 8 .8 9 E + 0 8
D C 0 .0 0 E + 0 0 0 .0 0 E + 0 0 0 .0 0 E + 0 0
C u s to m e r 1 .0 5 E + 0 9 1 .5 4 E + 1 0 3 .0 0 E + 1 0
T o t a l 2 .2 7 E + 1 0 7 .6 9 E + 1 0 1 .4 5 E + 1 1
F in a n c i a l A n a ly si s f o r R e a l T im e F e e d b a c k
0.00E+00
2.00E+08
4.00E+08
6.00E+08
8.00E+08
1.00E+09
1.20E+09
1.40E+09
1.60E+09
1.80E+09
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Cu
rre
nc
y u
nit
s
Annual customer saving
BAU BB RTF
9. Smart Metering Guide, Energy Saving and the Customer
One primary purpose of the ESMA project was to publish a Guide to smart metering and
energy savings. Three versions of this Guide were published, in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Each
edition was updated based on developments during the previous year. The Chapters of the
2010 Edition are shown below.
1. Introduction
2. Why smart metering?
3. Customer feedback and smart metering
4. Smart metering systems - technical options
5. Smart metering systems - multi-utility issues
6. Smart metering and the smart grid
7. Smart metering services for demand response
8. Smart metering services for smart homes
9. The utility and smart metering
10. Determining energy saving gains using field trials
11. Metering regulation and standardisation
12. Marketing smart metering services
The Guide provides a comprehensive picture of all aspects of smart metering related to
energy savings and other related benefits. Given the current lack of knowledge of smart
metering technology, a number of chapters have been included to give this knowledge. The
Guide was developed with input from the Alliance members and can be downloaded from
the ESMA website: http://www.esma-home.eu.
10. Country Progress
A key task of the ESMA project has been to review and monitor the status of the smart
metering. This situation is set out as of the end of 2009 in the Table below.
Country Electricity Gas
Austria 30,000 installed, no national obligation but
this under review
Roll out under discussion
Belgium Trials underway – results will determine any
national roll out
Cyprus There is no smart metering deployed in
Cyprus
Czech Republic Trials underway – results may determine any
national roll out
Denmark Several electricity DSO’s are deploying smart
meters but there is no national plan
Estonia A major roll out is under discussion and a roll
out may begin in 2011 that would conclude
in 2013
Finland In March 2009 new legislation that requires
nearly full penetration of hourly metering
and settlement by 1 January 2014 came to
effect.
France EDRF expected to commit to a full roll out in
2010 based on results of trial. Overall target
of 96% smart meters installed by 2020
Roll out under discussion
Germany > 50 trials ranging from 10 to 100.000
electricity meters. A full national roll out is
under discussion. Adopting a market based
approach, allowing customers to opt in or
out.
Similar situation with electricity metering
but there is no planed roll out
Great Britain On 30th of October 2008, the Government
decided on a national roll out of duel fuel
smart metering for all 27 million households
before 2020 1. On 2nd
Dec 2009 the
Government announced its planned
approach to rolling out smart metering.
As for electricity
Greece A roll out has been decided and will be
carried out between 2010 and 2013
Hungary A study is currently underway
Ireland A pilot study is underway and it is anticipated
that this will lead to a full roll out, but the
decision has not been made yet
As for electricity
Italy Currently have 33 million AMM meters and
by 2011, all 36 million electricity customers
will be equipped with a smart meter
Has made decision to roll out of gas meters
with a target of 80% installed by 2016.
Luxembourg A number of trials are being carried out by
DSO’s
Norway New requirements regarding full scale
establishment of smart metering were
suggest autumn 2009 - through a discussion
document, but the final descision is
postponed until the spring 2010.
Country Electricity Gas
Portugal The Regulator has made a preliminary study.
Poland There is discussion of a roll out beginning in
2010 and completed by 2017.
As for electricity
Romania There is no official national plan in Romania
on Smart metering;
As for electricity
Slovak Republic Discussions of a roll out underway
Slovenia Roll out under discussion
Spain A full roll out is underway, beginning in 2008
and planned for completion in 2018.
No economic case for roll out of smart gas
meters for customers using < 5,000,000
kWh/y).
Sweden Will be the first one to achieve a 100%
penetration in July 2009 when monthly
collection of meter data becomes
mandatory.
The Netherlands Dutch Senate rejected proposed legislation
including a compulsory roll out of smart
metering for reasons of privacy and security.
Proposed legislation and smart meter
standards are now being revised for new
discussion in parliament in order to allow a
voluntary roll out. New decisions are
expected in Autumn 2010. In the meantime,
around 200.000 smart meters have been
installed in the residential sector already
(including 100.000 installed by Dutch fourth
largest energy supplier Oxxio.)
As for electricity.
11. PowerPlayer
A significant outcome of the ESMA project has been the development of the PowerPlayer, a
real time energy feedback device. The design of the PowerPlayer was based on the
conclusions of the ESMA project’s review of customer reaction to feedback. The following
pages show an article that has been written on the development and history of the
PowerPlayer1.
1 Article Energy Display Research July 2009, UCPartners, Amsterdam
The PowerPlayer has been further developed in line with feedback from customers and new versions produced2.
2 All pictures reproduced with the permission of Home Automation Europe http://www.homeautomationeurope.com
Figure 1 PowerPlayer
Figure 2 IPhone App
Figure 3 PowerPlayer - Gas
Although originally developed as a display device, the PowerPlayer now forms a part of a home automation system, highlighting the likely direction of future innovation as meter data, remote communication and home control systems increasingly merge.
12. Conclusions
The ESMA project has spent three years studying how to deliver energy savings through
smart metering. In this time it has produced a series of reports, a Guide, an Annual Report
and held a series of events. These have been successful in their own right and have
demonstrated the significant benefits of smart metering in delivering energy savings and
demand management and also its pivotal role in enabling smart grids, electric vehicles,
smart homes and distributed generation.
It is also clear to the members of the project team that the roll out of smart metering is only
just beginning and that there are many issues still to be resolved. Work has begun on
resolving some of these, as in the standardisation mandate M/441. However, many remain
and the need for the stakeholder group represented by the ESMA Alliance is still strong.
Perhaps it can be argued that the ESMA project began too early and the need for its output
will become more apparent in the next few years when many other countries across Europe
begin to examine smart metering.
13. Smart metering and energy savings – source material
The potential for energy savings from smart metering have been recognised by a large
number of companies. This chapter sets out a table with a brief description of each of these
and a link to their web site where the reader can find out more. It would not be possible to
include all relevant schemes; if any have been omitted it was simply due to a lack of
awareness rather than any other reason. At the same time, the authors cannot recommend
any of these devices or schemes at this time, other than the extent to which they are in line
with ESMA recommendations. Indeed, one of the features of this topic is the range of
different approaches being taken and the chance over time to see which succeed and which
don’t.
Name Data Source
Customer Interface
Features Comments and Link
Energy Supplier Schemes
UK
British Gas Monitor Customer submits meter reads by internet or SMS. Receives accurate bills. Provided with a free power monitor (not smart meter) to reduce consumption. Claims up to £150/y savings.
Smart Energy
1£150 savings include: £20 per fuel (inc VAT) signup credit payable at month thirteen; and a £110 saving through an assumed 12% reduction in consumption by using the Consumption Hub and Electricity Monitor from average annual consumption of 20,500 kWh for gas and 3,300 kWh for single rate electricity, paying by Monthly Direct Debit on our Standard tariff prices as at 9th November 2009, rounded average across all regions including VAT. Actual energy savings will vary depending on individual circumstances.
nPower Smart Metering
Involved in UK smart metering trials. Offering customers opportunity to join is a web based debate on energy saving
EDF 20:20
Involved in UK smart metering trials. Offers discount to submitting meter readings plus energy savings advice.
“Read. Reduce. Reward
Be rewarded for reading your meter and reducing your energy usage year on year with our award winning Read. Reduce. Reward scheme.”
First Utility Smart meter
Online via web portal
Collects 30 minute data. Only available in East and West Midlands in UK
Smart Tariff
“The cheapest electricity and gas tariff
available in the UK today
12.5% dual fuel discount
Free smart meter
Accurate monthly bills - based on your actual usage. No more estimated bills
Automatic meter readings - your smart meter downloads readings automatically (electricity every 30 minutes and gas daily) and sends them direct to us, so there is no need to read your meter ever again!
View your energy usage online - gives you the power to reduce your energy consumption and your monthly bill
Help the environment - changing your usage patterns means saving energy and helping the environment through reduced carbon emissions”
Scottish and Southern
Energy saving incentive
better plan
rewards consumers for reducing their consumption by a
Denmark
Kamstrup Smart meter
Case Studies
Energi Fyn
District heating case
The Danish Energy Association,
Smart meter business case scenario for Denmark
SydEnergi Utility case
Internet based feedback
Name Data source Display via: Comments Link
Modstroeam Utility, ZigBee device, manual entry
Web site House energy analysis, link to ZigBee devices for home automation and data collection, link to participating utility meter data
DEST
Google PowerMeter
Meter data via utility or direct from meter
PC Displays consumption profile and data and comparison with historical data and other consumers
PowerMeter
Microsoft Hohm
Appears to require direct input of energy usage data
PC PC application allows users to analyse their energy consumption and advises on reducing usage
Microsoft Hohm
VEAB EnergiKollen
Utility Web site Customers can view their energy usage and compare this with other users
VEAB
DTE Energy MyEnergy Analyzer
Based on Aclara EnergyPrism
Utility Web site Customers can view their bills, energy usage, get advice on energy reduction. The utility can target specific customer groups
EnergyPrism
Energy Depot Utility Web site Allows customers t o calculate their predicted energy costs, compare with bills and analyses cost saving measures
Energy Depot
Greenbox – company acquired by Silver Spring Networks
Utility Web site Provides real time feedback and allows customers to identify savings opportunities. Links to ZigBee network to provide control function
Greenbox
H-Net Utility Web site Customers can view their bills, energy usage and forecast future usage
H-Net
In-house displays linked to meter data
ecoMeter Meter and utility data link, wireless or wired
Display unit Shows multi utility meter outputs, cumulative demand, coloured lights related to consumption level and communications with utility
ecoMeter
PowerPlayer Meter via wireless link
Display unit Shows energy usage, carbon for electricity and gas and forecast costs
Home Automation Europe
EWE Box Meter via M-Bus Display unit plus web site
Weekly or daily consumption on display, annual and monthly data
EWE Box
on web site.
EMS-2020 Meter via wireless link
Display unit Daily and monthly display of energy and costs
EMS-2020
PRI Home Energy Control
Meter via wireless link
Display Multi utility display of instantaneous and cumulative multi utility data. Can control heating system
Home Energy Control
PRI Customer Interface Panel
Meter via wireless link
Display and customer interface
ZigBee enabled display that supports pre-payment, multi-tariffs and usage feedback
Customer Interface Panel
PowerCost Monitor
Meter via optical reader
DIsplay Sensor on meter detects real time consumption and transmits this wirelessly to the display
PowerCost
Monitor
Savvy eddy Meter via character reader
PC ZigBee based products that collect meter data and pass it onto IP networks for transmission over the internet or onto a local PC
Savvy eddy
Control4 Meter data via wireless link
Home control panel
Integrated home automation controller using ZigBee wireless communications
Control4
Mobile Energy Assistant
Linked to meter Display and PC Display uses plc or ZigBee to collect data from meter. The display connects to the internet and can be accessed remotely to monitor consumption and control any smart devices
Mobile Energy
Assistant
Home Joule Wireless connection to meter and utility AMM network
Display mounted on plug top
Display shows consumption, weather forecast, current electricity tariff and coloured light indicating the relative cost of power
Ambient
AzTech In-home
Wireless link to meter
Display and optional link to computer software
Display shows instantaneous or 30 day rolling average consumption and cost. Has light to show level of consumption. Can control thermostat via ZigBee interface
In-home
Tendril Insight Wireless link to meter
Display Instantaneous and cumulative energy and cost plus forecast monthly bill. Communications with utility
Insight
HEMS Technology HEMS-DR
Wireless link to meter (L+G Focus meter)
PC Comprises a wireless mesh linking meter, socket monitors and thermostats, these can be
HEMS-DR
monitored and controlled
L.S. Research RATE$AVER
Meter via wireless link
Display ZigBee energy profile compliant display, shows current and cumulative consumption and has level alarm
Now U-Snap enabled
RATE$AVER
Converge Power Portal
Wireless link to meter
Display ZigBee display providing demand response input – has red/orange/green light to indicate energy price level – has a magnetic backing so it can be fixed to fridge
Power Portal
eWave Wireless Mbus as the link to the electrical meter
Display Real time visualization of electricity consumption – in kWh or costs. Information presented as actual consumption of consumption for a chosen period.
Messages can be sent to the display.
Touch screen.
n/a
CensiTel Wireless connection to the electrical meter
Display Real time visulaiozation of electricity consumption.
Messages can be sent to the display.
Touch screen.
A part of a safe home system.
http://www.censitel.no/
Black and Decker Power Monitor
Optical detector connected to front panel of meter
Display captures and displays usage data Power Monitor
In-house displays linked to separate power transducer
The Energy Detective
Current transformers and wireless link to display.
Display, this unit also links to software package called Footprints
Has voltage pick up to provide true active energy measure
TED
Energy UFO ZigBee enabled energy monitors
Iphone ZigBee enables home devices monitor the energy consumption of appliances in the home and transfer this, via t he internet to the mobile phone
Energy UFO
Eco-eye Current transformers and wireless link to
Display Display shows consumption, cost and carbon and can store data to give cumulative data
Eco-eye
display.
Kill-a-Watt Power sensor built into socket adapter.
Display built into adapter
The Kill-a-Watt monitors the consumption of the individual appliance plugged into the adapter
Kill-a-Watt
Wattson/Holmes
Current transformers and wireless link to display.
Display, this unit also links to software package called Holmes
Display shows consumption, cost and carbon, software package stores data to give cumulative data
Wattson
Wattcher Meter via pulse or disc counter
Display with wireless link to sensor
The display shows consumption. The display plugs into a power socket avoiding the need for batteries
Wattcher
Energy Orb Wireless link to Internet
Coloured glass globe, colour is linked to energy consumption or energy price
Very simple user interface, can be modified to display energy usage data
Ambient
Flex Control
Wireless network PC Intelligent home control allowing meter data to be captured and reported as well as giving control of enabled house systems
Flex Control
Onzo Smart Energy Kit
Wireless link from current sensor to display
Display , web page
Display can be connected to home computer and upload data to a web portal
Smart Energy Kit
Sentec Coracle Power analysis of supply with wireless link to display
Display with options for web access to data
Calculates disaggregated appliance usage from total supply signal
Coracle
Green Energy Options Home Energy Hub
Current transducer at supply point and point of use transducers with wireless links
Display, simple option or duel option with heating, hot water and individual appliance loads
The advanced options allows for control of appliances via smart plugs.
Energy Hub
Ewgeco Wireless link to display transducer or direct connect to meter
Multi utility display (up to 3 channels)
Display shows instantaneous and peak consumption levels. Links to computer and can have access to web portal with additional analysis tools
Ewgeco
Wattwatcher Current transducer Display and Option for additional appliance Wattwatcher
at point of supply with wireless link to display
link to computer programme for energy analysis
sensors. Part of larger programme with community and web site support
Cent-a-meter (Australia) Owl (UK)
Current transducer at supply point with wireless link to display
Display, shows instantaneous power, cost and carbon plus temperature and RH
Display has option to accept multiple inputs.
Cent-a-meter
The Meter Reader EM-2500
Current transducer and voltage sensor with wired link to display
Display showing power, peak power, estimated bill, voltage
1% accurate through measurement of voltage and current
EM-2500
Current Cost – new product called Envi
Power transducer with wireless link to display
Display showing instantaneous and cumulative power and cost
Optional link to computer package to review consumption
Current Cost
EML 2020-H
Current transformer on incoming mains supply
Display can connect to PC via a USB or ZigBee link
Display or PC EML 2020-H
Plugwise Power sensor built into socket adaptors
Connects sensors via ZigBee wireless network
Display on PC. Socket adaptors can switch appliances on and off.
Plugwise
Electronic
Housekeeper
Power sensor built
into socket
adaptors
Local display
A smart plug is fitted to each appliance and these communicate with a central display that allows appliances to be controlled (turned on and off) and their consumption monitored. The unit can also stream electronic media if there is a suitable system to connect to.
Electronic
Housekeeper
14. Deliverables
The full list of Deliverables produced by the ESMA project is given below. All of these are
available for download from the ESMA web site: http://www.esma-home.eu
D2 Impact Analysis on European Metering Industry Stakeholders
D3 Definition of Smart Metering and Applications and
Identification of Benefits
D4 Report on Innovative Customer Energy Products
D5 Review and Consolidation of Smart Metering Experience
D6 Report on Effective Customer Feedback Mechanisms
D7 Report on Regulation and European Market Conditions Related
to Smart Metering
D8 Report on Methodology for estimating Energy Savings related
to Smart Metering
D9 Report on Barriers and Drivers and Recommendation for Action
D11 Financial Toolkit, Report on Toolkit and Guide on its Use
D12 Annual Update of Toolkit
D13 Annual Update of Toolkit
D14 Application Guide for the Design and Implementation of Smart
Metering Schemes
D15 Annual Update to Application Guide
D16 Annual Update to Application Guide
D17 Annual Report on the Progress in Smart Metering
D18 Annual Report on the Progress in Smart Metering
D22 Promotional material for use by National Champions
15. Project Team
The project coordinator would like to express his many thanks to the project team who
made this project so rewarding.
John Parsons BEAMA Project Coordinator [email protected] Mikael Togeby Ea Energy Analyses
Josco Kester ECN WP 4 Leader [email protected] Marta Rocha EDV Energia Claudio Rochas Ekodoma [email protected] María González Burgos
Endesa Ingeniería WP2 Leader [email protected]
Carmelo Moreno Endesa Ingeniería [email protected]
Dariusz Koc KAPE WP5 Leader [email protected] Nigel Orchard Pilot Systems [email protected] Henk van Elburg SenterNovem [email protected] Tomas Vorisek SEVEn [email protected] Andrei Morch SINTEF Hanne Saele SINTEF [email protected] Marek Cherubin SPEC [email protected] Pekka Koponen VTT [email protected]
