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EDRP & Smart Metering Update: Key Learnings, Deployment Challenges, and Consumer Needs

This update provides insights into key learnings and challenges in the EDRP and Smart Metering industry, including consumer needs, technical issues, deployment challenges, and design considerations. It highlights the importance of consumer choice, cost savings, geographic approach, quality control, interoperability, and skilled workforce in the successful rollout of smart metering solutions.

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EDRP & Smart Metering Update: Key Learnings, Deployment Challenges, and Consumer Needs

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  1. EDRP & Smart Metering Update4th February 2010Richard Westoby, Andrew Monks and Ian Lansley

  2. Agenda • EDRP Key Learnings • Key Learnings and Insights • Consumer Needs • Technical and Practical issues • Deployment and Design issues • Q&A

  3. ‘Consumer Need’ Learnings • Customers want choice on how they receive information and customers more interested in saving money than saving energy • Displays, paper or web probably all required to meet different customer needs • Customer messages and propositions need to be simple to understand • Interventions received via multiple media seen as wasteful and confusing

  4. ‘Consumer Need’ Learnings • Displays • Visual ‘traffic’ lights generally well received • Pricing on display needs remote updating and consumer prefers pricing to be fully inclusive with explanation • Electricity and gas units not always understood • Prepayment meters need extra information on displays • Prepayment buttons on meter need to be well labelled and friendly • Low signal power creates customer concerns if ‘no comms’ message • Some customers refused displays as didn’t want one or too technical • Paper Information with Bill or in Post • Shifting consumption from peak to off-peak; positive response from consumers but some difficulty understanding the principle • Graphs and benchmarking need simple explanations • Some customers regard paper as wasteful • Web • Only 40% customers provided email addresses for this intervention • Website needs simple access with easy user name / password rules • Password lockouts caused customer concern • Some customers not interested in web access or turned off by process to reach the graphical screens

  5. Deployment Learnings • Difficult locations need technical solutions: • Basements, block of flats and remote geographical locations (eg; islands, highlands) not addressed and will require comms solutions to be developed • Meter not readily accessible eg; boxed in meters • Community approach has positive impact on reducing energy consumption; however this approach would need substantial adaptation for a national roll out • In urban and suburban areas it is difficult to identify what is a community • New smart meter / display solutions take 12-18 mths to develop, test and pilot • Skilled trained installer workforce necessary; training and availability will be an issue

  6. Summary • Need for consumer choice of media and simple messages • A key driver is consumer cost saving leading to energy saving • Geographic approach aids communication and local support for rollout • Manufacturers and system integrators must improve their quality control and testing to reduce faults and data issues • Complexity must not be underestimated for national rollout due to the numbers of parties and the number of process elements involved • Interoperability required between meter types (eg; gas and electric) and displays across HAN and WAN • Need to address difficult sites / meter locations • Skilled trained installer workforce necessary; training and availability will be an issue

  7. Energy made better

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