Smart Meters

Why Smart Electrical Meters are Key to Achieving Energy Efficiency

As per expert projections, by 2030, the power consumption will rise 70% over today’s levels. On the other hand, energy efficiency systems will contribute to 57% of the decrease in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. The energy used in building facilities, all residential, commercial, and industrial facilities, is the largest creator

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Is your electric meter smart? – Answering the myths behind smart meters

Misconceptions around advanced technologies often lead to the emergence of urban legends. This is currently the case for the integration of smart electric meters. Here, Jonathan DiGiacomandrea, applications engineering manager at battery specialist Ultralife Corporation, explains some of the truths behind powering the energy saving devices. With a global consciousness

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Latest Issue
Issue 325 : Feb 2025

Smart Meters

Propertymark pledges its support for Smart Meter Awareness Week for private rented sector

Propertymark pledges its support for Smart Meter Awareness Week for private rented sector

Propertymark has pledged its continued support for the annual Smart Meter Awareness Week. Launched by Smart Energy GB, the UK Government backed campaign body, the first drive ran from 18 to 22 October 2021, with a plan to boost awareness and the number of smart meter installations across the UK.   This year, Smart Meter Awareness Week is taking place between Monday 30 October to Sunday 5 November.   Smart meters are a part of UK Government plans for a smart energy system that will support carbon emissions cuts.  In June 2020, the UK Government stated the policy framework for energy suppliers to deliver a market-wide rollout of smart meters as soon as practical in the period after 2020.  This included considering policy measures to proactively support the uptake of smart meters in the private rented sector, such as measures to help ensure that landlords do not unreasonably refuse a tenant’s request to install a smart meter where the tenant is the energy customer and whether to add smart meters to the mix of measures that may be implemented to meet minimum energy efficiency requirements in the private rented sector.  Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, said:   “Propertymark is pleased to support the third annual Smart Meter Awareness Week for the private rented sector. Letting agents, tenants, landlords and energy companies all have a role to play in improving smart meter take up because installing a smart meter can help tenants understand how much energy is being used at the property and for agents and their landlords whether this can help to influence any energy efficiency improvements that are needed.”  Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

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Why Smart Electrical Meters are Key to Achieving Energy Efficiency

As per expert projections, by 2030, the power consumption will rise 70% over today’s levels. On the other hand, energy efficiency systems will contribute to 57% of the decrease in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. The energy used in building facilities, all residential, commercial, and industrial facilities, is the largest creator of GHGs, and electric power makes up about 50% of emissions attributed to commercial and residential buildings. Buildings can tackle this issue by producing more energy than they consume. Recent regulations reflect this objective. For instance, the EU’s EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) stipulates that all new buildings should achieve zero-energy by 2020. But, most building facilities are far off from meeting this objective. To achieve CO2 and energy efficiency goals, effective energy management measures starting with efficient energy consumption measurement needs to be implemented on an enormous scale. Monitoring and electrical meterings are the vital measurement tools and the building blocks for competent energy management. Efficient monitoring and electrical metering offer building operators and owners the critical data they require to enhance their building’s energy performance. In an owner-occupied, single operator office building, a quality monitoring and electrical metering solution can produce instant energy savings of about 10%. In the long term, facilities can achieve improved energy use control, and monitoring can save up to 30% in energy utilization. Continual automatic metering solutions utilize dynamic energy dashboards to display building energy consumption and operation data. Images, tables, and graphs illustrate energy information clearly, so sound decisions can be made. For instance, an energy use dashboard may indicate that the building’s ventilation system utilizes more energy than usual. This alert can make the operator decrease motor speed by a few Hz, which will lower consumption without affecting performance. Continuous automatic electrical metering also offers building occupants, operators, and owners access to the needed data to optimize existing power supply contracts and negotiate new, more cost-efficient ones. Multisite building operators and facility managers can aggregate loads to discuss bulk utility contracts. Further, users can utilize precise shadow bills to identify billing mistakes and determine if suppliers are meeting the contract terms. How to Start the Energy Management Procedure? To make sure that auditing and electrical metering plans meet regulatory and user requirements, you need to measure performance against relevant metrics. For instance, the standard metrics in office buildings are kWh/occupant and kWh/m². In hotels, kWh/overnight or kWh/occupancy rate are important metrics, while kWh/production rate is a crucial metric for industrial buildings. You should also correlate the data with cooling and heating degree days to compare the building’s existing consumption with past years and with facilities in other places. To start, organizations need to pinpoint user requirements and decide the scope of energy monitoring solutions developed for the future. Next, they should determine the performance data and metrics to be gauged to connect building activities and energy consumption. Afterward, the relevant project team needs to decide the metering places (type of electrical meter + location) that will permit operators to control and monitor the building according to their goals and ensure the collected information facilitates the desired assessment. Lastly, electrical meters should be chosen based on the energy objectives of the business. If currently used primary meters have the ability to read energy information, they can be reused for that purpose. Otherwise, new energy and electrical meters need to be installed. You should pick additional meters based on building operation goals and metering points standards. The Final Word As a recommendation, we suggest before you make any decisions regarding electrical works and procedures, you must consult a reliable provider or licensed professionals who can help determine your unique requirements and find the ideal electrical and energy solutions for your needs. Hiring an expert service your electrical systems ensures peace of mind in terms of safety, appropriate installation, and prevention of unwarranted incidents

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Is your electric meter smart? – Answering the myths behind smart meters

Misconceptions around advanced technologies often lead to the emergence of urban legends. This is currently the case for the integration of smart electric meters. Here, Jonathan DiGiacomandrea, applications engineering manager at battery specialist Ultralife Corporation, explains some of the truths behind powering the energy saving devices. With a global consciousness to reduce carbon emissions, utility companies across the UK are rolling out smart meters in an attempt to help consumers take greater control over their energy consumption. Smart meters provide near real-time energy usage information, which can be closely monitored so that consumers can conserve energy and reduce costs as a result. This motion is part of the UK Government’s plans to have every eligible home in the UK fitted with a smart meter by 2020. While electricity users will be able to reap the benefits of the modern electrical grid, the introduction of smart meters is expected to save utility companies around £300 million a year, according to research from Which? Of course, it’s not just the UK investing in smart meters. In 2016, 70.8 million smart meters were installed across the US, but the smart electric meter is currently the most mature in China and accounted for 70 per cent of the total smart meter shipments in 2016. With forecasts expecting this figure to increase across the world, many consumers are concerned over the safety, reliability and functionalities of the devices, particularly for domestic use. Fears over the safety of smart meters have emerged because of the devices producing a small amount of radio frequency (RF) energy while in operation. Research from the Federal Communications Commission shows that the level of RF emitted by smart meters is below that of mobile devices and so does not hold a significant threat to human health. Another concern for smart meters is the accuracy of the data recorded. In comparison to traditional analogue meters, which require users to submit the meters readings to the utility company to find out the usage and expenditure, smart electric meters feature their own dedicated and secure communications system. This automatically transmits the information to the utility provider, eliminating the practice of estimated bills. Smart meters are required to meet stringent regulations before going into service. In fact, manufacturers are expected to supply independently certified testing results, demonstrating that the meter can generate accurate readings. Often, the meters are still subjected to further tests prior to installation by utility companies, to mitigate the chances of a meter that clocks the consumption too fast. To transmit information back to the utility provider, smart meters require short bursts of power. This means that the batteries installed in the device must support high continuous discharge, offering high-pulse current for wireless and programmable logic controller (PLC), bidirectional transmissions. In addition to this, manufacturers tend to integrate non-rechargeable batteries into their smart metering applications. This reduces the maintenance required, but means manufacturers require batteries that have a long service life. In comparison to traditional chemistries, Ultralife’s Lithium Manganese Dioxide (Li-MnO2) and Lithium Thionyl Chloride (Li-SOCI2) battery chemistry has proven performance in servicing metering applications for up to ten years. This increases the reliability and convenience of smart meters but as they work as part of the smart grid, the devices also offer greater efficiency and service to consumers. With the ability to electronically report the location of any power outages, utility providers can quickly locate and restore power to the affected area. To help overcome the myths surrounding smart meters, manufacturers need to ensure they are employing the most appropriate power sources for their devices. By considering the characteristics needed for smart meter applications, utility companies can offer consumers a simpler method to managing their utility costs and provide more efficient energy as a result.

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Science and Technology Committee Says Government ‘Must be Clearer’ on Smart Meters

The Science and Technology Committee says that the government is “not being clear” on the benefits of smart meters. The Committee said that there are “too many objectives” for the rollout, which could hinder its implementation. The report stated that the government should be clearer about the main purpose of smart metering and use this to drive evaluation of the project. It added: “Smart meters need to be clearly understood by the consumer and provide information in a format that the customer finds helpful. In order for consumers to benefit directly from smart metering there will need to be appropriate investment in customer engagement, given that this is being introduced in an era of low public trust in utility providers.” The government has listed 11 different objectives for the scheme, including saving money for customers’ energy bills, despite the amount of money saved by individual consumers set to be small. The report says that the major benefits will be in paving the way for a smarter energy system where to enhance energy security and reduce pollution. However, the report supports the use of in-home displays are part of the rollout as they provide a “necessary feedback mechanism” on energy consumption, despite some stakeholders criticising this. They also discussed smart meter security and members met with the government’s security experts from GCHQ which have the Committee “confidence that security is being taken seriously.” Tania Mathias, Interim Chair of the Committee, commented: “It would be easy to dismiss the smart meter project as an inefficient way of saving a small amount of money on energy bills, but the evidence suggests there are major national benefits, including establishing a smarter, more energy secure grid. “The smart meter mass rollout has been delayed, but the government and suppliers must not skimp on engaging with customers in the rush to fit 50 million more meters by 2020. The evidence shows that homeowners and businesses need to receive tailored advice about how they can benefit from smart metering.”

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