A smart meter is usually an electrical meter that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes.[7] Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. Such an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) differs from traditional automatic meter reading (AMR) in that it enables two-way communications with the meter.
Contents |
The term Smart meter often refers to an electricity meter, but it can also mean a device measuring natural gas or water consumption.
Similar meters, usually referred to as interval or time-of-use meters, have existed for years, but Smart Meters usually involve real-time or near real-time sensors, power outage notification, and power quality monitoring. These additional features are more than simple automated meter reading (AMR). They are similar in many respects to Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters. Smart meters are also believed to be a less costly alternative to traditional interval or time-of-use meters and are intended to be used on a wide scale with all customer classes, including residential customers. (Interval and time-of-use meters are more of a legacy technology that historically have been installed to measure commercial and industrial customers, but typically provide no AMR functionality.)
The installed base of smart meters in Europe at the end of 2008 was about 39 million units according to analyst firm Berg Insight.[8] Globally, Pike Research found that smart meter shipments were 17.4 million units for the first quarter of 2011.[9]
Smart meters may be part of a smart grid, but alone do not constitute a smart grid.
There are also concerns regarding the health, privacy and price effects of smart meters. For example, the attorney generals of both Illinois and Connecticut have stated that they do not believe smart meters provide any benefit to consumers.[10] The pulsed microwave radiation emitted by smart meters is the source of health concern.
Since the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing throughout the world, utilities have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Traditional electrical and gas meters only measure total consumption and as such, provide no information of when the energy was consumed. Smart meters provide an economical way of measuring this information, allowing price setting agencies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.
From a consumer perspective, smart metering offers a number of potential benefits to householders. These include a) An end to estimated bills, which are a major source of complaints for many customers b) A tool to help consumers better manage their energy use - smart meters with a display can provide up to date information on gas and electricity consumption in the currency of that country and in doing so help people to better manage their energy use and reduce their energy bills and carbon emissions. Some more progressive countries also recognise the potential social benefits of smart metering - for example, the potential for telehealth and social care services that can help to reduce the burden on government health services and enable consumers to live independently for longer. There is also the opportunity to target assistance at vulnerable and low income consumers more effectively and end disconnection for electricity customers.
Electricity pricing usually peaks at certain predictable times of the day and the season. In particular, if generation is constrained, prices can rise from other jurisdictions or more costly generation is brought online. It is believed that billing customers by time of day will encourage consumers to adjust their consumption habits to be more responsive to market prices. Regulatory and market design agencies hope these "price signals" will delay the construction of additional generation or at least the purchase of energy from higher priced sources, thereby controlling the steady and rapid increase of electricity prices. There are some concerns however that low income and vulnerable consumers may not benefit from intraday time of use tariffs. Smart metering offers many potential benefits but there are concerns that many of the consumer benefits will not be realized.
The world's largest smart meter deployment was undertaken by Enel SpA, the dominant utility in Italy with over 27 million customers. Between 2000 and 2005 Enel deployed smart meters to its entire customer base.
These meters are fully electronic and smart, with integrated bi-directional communications, advanced power measurement and management capabilities, an integrated, software-controllable disconnect switch, and an all solid-state design. They communicate over low voltage power line using standards-based power line technology from Echelon Corporation to Echelon data concentrators at which point they communicate via IP to Enel's enterprise servers. Thus, smart grids do not always require wireless devices.
The system provides a wide range of advanced features, including the ability to remotely turn power on or off to a customer, read usage information from a meter, detect a service outage, detect the unauthorized use of electricity, change the maximum amount of electricity that a customer can demand at any time; and remotely change the meter's billing plan from credit to prepay as well as from flat-rate to multi-tariff.
The Energy Conservation Center[11] promotes energy efficiency including smart metering. Public utilities have started to test metering with integrated communication devices. Private entities have already implemented efficient energy systems with integrated feedback methods such as alerts or triggers.
The Ontario Energy Board in Ontario, Canada has worked to define the technology[12] and develop the regulatory framework for its implementation. The Government of Ontario set a target of deploying smart meters to 800,000 homes and small businesses (i.e. small "general service" customers under 50 kW demand) by the end of 2007, which was surpassed, and throughout the province by the end of 2010.[13] BC Hydro in British Columbia, Canada is implementing Itron smart meters to all customers by the end of 2012.[14]
In December 2009 the United Kingdom's Department of Energy and Climate Change announced its intention to have smart meters in all homes by 2020.[15]
The Coalition Government which was elected May 2010 has stated that it wants to “accelerate significantly the rollout of smart meters compared to previously published targets”.[16] There is some scepticism as to whether an accelerated approach is wise and whether it might risk undermining the benefits identified. DECC’s own Impact Assessment concludes that “There is potential for greater risk to consumers in terms of cost” from an accelerated rollout.[17]
The United Kingdom rollout is considered to be the largest programme ever undertaken - involving visits to more than 27 million homes to replace meters for both gas and electricity. The official start date of rollout is 2012 but some energy suppliers are already installing smart meters in people's homes.[18] As of January 2010 there were estimated to be in excess of 170,000 domestic smart meters installed. [British Gas] is considered to be leading the rollout of the new technology, and is expected to have at least 2 million meters installed by end of 2012. This energy supplier is reportedly installing on average 1,000 new smart meters every day.[19]
The statutory watchdog for energy customers in the United Kingdom, Consumer Focus,[20] is seeking assurances that an emphasis on accelerated rollout will not lead to corners being cut on consumer protections or opportunities being missed to deliver benefits to consumers. Ofgem has published the following challenging rollout timetable:
Consumer groups are concerned that little consideration appears to have been given to the experience of customers who receive meters before ‘Go-Live’[20] and that currently there is no monitoring framework in place. Government is still consulting on minimum standards for displays, meters, and the customer experience. Key decisions are expected in late March.
In order to decide whether or not to mandate the rollout of smart meters a number of Impact Assessments have been carried out by Government to establish if there is a positive business case for Britain to rollout smart metering. These looked at the potential costs and benefits of rolling out smart meters to suppliers, network operators, customers and Britain as a whole. The latest DECC Impact Assessment (27/07/2010) concludes that there is a positive business case overall if you take into consideration all parties that could benefit .
DECC’s latest Impact Assessment (July 2010 -see reference below) estimates that rollout will cost around £10bn. The proposed model is a competitive supplier led rollout with a central communications body, currently called the DataCommunicationsComm (DCC). The precise functions of the latter are still under consultation. The costs of rollout are expected to be passed on via energy customers bills. The DECC Impact Assessment assumes that 100 percent of the cost savings to suppliers will be passed on to customers, but critics argue that experience in several other parts of the energy market (like falls in wholesale prices or with prepayment meters) suggests that this is an over-simplification. Consumer groups such as Consumer Focus argue that there is currently no transparent mechanism in place to limit the financial risk to consumers and to ensure that if costs are passed on to energy bills that they are fair and proportionate. The energy regulator Ofgem recognised this in their July 2010 Summer Prospectus and is seeking ways to improve accountability. One proposal is that the Energy Minister should report to Parliament on the costs and benefits of the Programme.
More than 40 percent of the benefits - £6.80bn - identified in the business case are expected to come from consumers reducing their energy consumption and taking advantage of lower cost off-peak tariffs. Total supplier benefits amount to £6.76bn and include £2.87bn from avoided meter reading costs and reduced inquiries and customer overheads of 1.21bn . There are also potential benefits to network operators and Britain PLC in terms of carbon savings.[22]
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy reviewed more than 36 different residential smart metering and feedback programmes internationally. This is the most extensive study of its kind (as of Jan 2011). Their conclusion was: “To realise potential feedback-induced savings, advanced meters [smart meters] must be used in conjunction with in-home (or on-line) displays and well-designed programmes that successfully inform, engage, empower and motivate people.[23] There are near universal calls from both the energy industry and consumer groups for a national social marketing campaign to help raise awareness of smart metering and give customers the information and support they need to become more energy efficient.
Some areas of California have smart meters,[24] although they have been banned in Marin County and there is currently a moratorium in Santa Cruz. The two main reasons are health and privacy. On July 20, 2006, California's energy regulators approved a program to roll out conventional meters retrofit with communications co-processor electronics to 9 million gas and electric household customers in the Northern California territory of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). These meters report electricity consumption on an hourly basis. This enables PG&E to set pricing that varies by season and time of the day, rewarding customers who shift energy use to off-peak periods. The peak pricing program will start out on a voluntary basis, and the full rollout is expected to take five years.[25]
The smart grid also allows PG&E to give customers timing and pricing options for upload to the grid (see vehicle-to-grid).
The largest municipal utility in the U.S., the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), has chosen to expand its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) serving its commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. LADWP has already purchased 9,000. The utilities’ commercial and industrial customers may tailor their daily energy consumption around the data provided by the smart meters, thus creating potential for reducing their monthly electricity bill and, at a broader level, contributing to global energy conservation.
Austin Energy, the nation's ninth largest community-owned electric utility, with nearly 400,000 electricity customers in and around Austin, Texas, began deploying a two-way RF mesh network and approximately 260,000 residential smart meters in 2008. More than 165,000 two-way meters have been installed by spring 2009, and integration with AE's meter data management system is underway. A previous project in 2002 exchanged approximately 140,000 mechanical meters for smart meters at residential apartments, condos, and other high meter density locations.[26]
Centerpoint Energy in Houston, Texas, is currently in the deployment stage of installing smart meters to over 2 million electricity customers in the Houston-Metro & Galveston service locations. Current estimated completion of CenterPoint Energy's smart meter deployment is 2012.[27] In October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $200 million dollar grant for use in deployment of Centerpoint Energy's smart meter network.[28]
Oncor Electric Delivery, based in Dallas, Texas, is currently deploying smart meters to over three million customers in North Texas. Oncor’s full deployment is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2012. The Oncor Advanced Metering System (AMS) currently supports 15 minute interval data, remote disconnects, and a Home Area Network (HAN) using ZigBee Smart Energy Protocol 1.0. The AMS supports text messages, pricing signals, and load control to the home user through the Smart Meter Texas Portal which is a joint project by Oncor, CenterPoint, and AEP Texas under the direction of the Texas Public Utility Commission. [29] [30] [31]
San Antonio, Texas-based CPS Energy has launched a pilot program with 40,000 smart meters deployed as of the summer of 2011.[32] CPS plans to complete installation of smart meters (electricity and gas) for all customers by the end of 2016.[33] Each meter reports data to CPS every 15 minutes over a wireless network, making the data available to the customer through the CPS website.[34]
In 2004, the Essential Services Commission of Victoria, Australia (ESC) released its changes to the Electricity Customer Metering Code and the Victorian Electricity Supply Industry Metrology Procedure to implement its decision to mandate interval meters for 2.6 million Victorian electricity customers.
The ESC's Final Paper entitled "Mandatory Rollout of Interval Meters for Electricity Customers" foreshadowed the changes to be implemented and contained the rollout timetable requiring interval meters to be installed for all small businesses and residences. The rollout commenced in mid 2009 and is forecast to be completed by the end of 2013.[35]
In 2009 the Victorian Auditor General undertook a review of the program and found that there were "significant inadequacies" in advice to Government and that project governance "has not been appropriate".[36]
The Victorian Government has subsequently announced that there will be a moratorium on the introduction of Time of Use tariffs.[37] Consequently meters installed in Victoria have limited smart functionality with neither interval data nor the Home Area Network being available for households making realising consumer benefits uncertain.
In May 2010 it was reported that the program was expected to cost $500 million more than originally estimated with a total cost of $1.6 billion.[38]
In November 2010 the Victorian Labor Party was voted out of State Government. The incoming Coalition Party stated that the program would be reviewed and the Auditor General's recommendations implemented specifically commenting on program governance, customer data protection and cost recovery.[39] In January 2011 the Energy Minister Michael O'Brien said he was not ruling out a suspension of the program.[40]
The Commonwealth issued a Joint Communiqué at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra on 17 February 2006 committing all governments to the progressive rollout of smart metering technology from 2007.[41]
In Victoria metering charges increased by approximately $60/meter/year after the introduction of AMI cost recovery in 2010.[42]
Annual Metering Charges ($)
| Distributor | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP AusNet | 17.49 | 17.49 | 17.49 | 17.49 | 17.49 | 86.1 | 93.83 | 101.02 | 108.75 | 117.08 | 126.04 |
| United Energy Distribution | 6.60 | 6.60 | 6.60 | 6.60 | 6.60 | 69.21 | 89.18 | 99.57 | 107.62 | 116.33 | 125.73 |
| Jemena Electricity Networks | 12.87 | 12.87 | 12.87 | 12.87 | 12.87 | 134.63 | 136.7 | 155.84 | 159.86 | 162.34 | 164.88 |
| Citipower | 15.20 | 15.20 | 15.20 | 15.20 | 15.20 | 104.79 | 108.4 | 93.38 | 95.26 | 97.17 | 99.13 |
| Powerco | 17.20 | 17.20 | 17.20 | 17.20 | 17.20 | 96.67 | 105.35 | 92.72 | 93.91 | 95.12 | 96.34 |
In November 2005, energy supplier Meridian Energy introduced the usage of smart meters in the Central Hawkes Bay area with over 1000 households participating. By late 2006, over 6,300 smart meters had been installed as part of the initial trial. On June 28, 2007 the first roll-out began for households in Christchurch[43] and there are plans to install over 112,000 smart meters by January 2009.[44] The smart meters are made by Christchurch based company Arc Innovations a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Energy.
In June 2009, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released a report,[45] which was critical of the lack of smartness in the 150,000 smart meters installed in New Zealand thus far. Dr Jan Wright called for government leadership for this "infrastructure of national importance." Dr Wright emphasised that the meters were capable of being smart, but that the failure to include the HAN chips at the initial installation meant that currently only the power retailers benefited, not consumers or the environment.
The company Oxxio introduced the first smart meter for both electricity and gas in the Netherlands in 2005. In 2007, the Dutch government proposed that all seven million households of the country should have a smart meter by 2013, as part of a national energy reduction plan. In August 2008 the roll out of these seven million meters was delayed for several reasons. Main reasons for the delay were that there was limited possibility foreseen to register small scale local energy production (e.g. by solar panels), and that there was uncertainty in the parliament on future developments in smart meters. On April 7, 2009 the Dutch government had to back down after consumer groups raised privacy concerns. Instead of a mandatory roll-out smart meters will be voluntary.[46]
Northern Europe became the hotspot for AMM in Europe in 2003 when Sweden announced the decision to require monthly readings of all electricity meters by 2009. Soon activities spread to the other Nordic countries. Vattenfall, Fortum and E.ON decided to deploy AMM in Finland as well as in Sweden, as the leading industry players in both countries at the time. Developments in Denmark took off in 2004 with several ambitious projects being announced by the country’s largest utilities. Norway has taken a more cautious stance, but in June 2007 the Norwegian energy authority NVE declared that it would recommend new legislation requiring smart meters to take effect in 2013. As of August 2007, almost all of the DSOs in Sweden had signed contracts for AMM solutions. Norway was lagging behind with just 6 percent. Altogether contracts for nearly 8 million smart meters are still open in the Nordic region.
Information gathered from "SmartRegions" program [47]
Summary of the European Smartmettering deployment [48] [49]
Spain is a country with 46 million inhabitants and approximately 26 million electricity customers. Three major energy players act in the country, Endesa, Iberdrola and Gas Natural- Unión Fenosa, with a market share of almost 95%. ESMA (2010, 26-28) provides a good overview of the situation in Spain.
Regulation existing in Spain related to smart meters implementation: – RD 1634/2006: Order to the Regulator (Comisión Nacional de Energía, CNE) about Substitution Plan including the Substitution plan for all Spanish residential meter, criteria for the substitution and number of meter to install every year: percentage of the total equipment. – ORDEN ITC/3860/2007: Publication of the criteria for the Substitution plan, including that every distributor has to present its own plan and AMM system design. – Based on the Royal Decrees a meter substitution plan was established with an obligation to install smart meters for all consumers under 15 kW by 2018. By 31 December 2010, 30% of the contracts from each distribution company below 15 kW should have the smart meter installed. Distribution companies are responsible for the installation of the meters.
The Smart Metering obligations were established in December 2007 with the national meter substitution plan for end-users up to 15 kW. The aim is to support remote energy management systems. The plan is managed by the Ministry of Industry, with a deadline for the completion of the plan by 31 December 2018. All DSOs had to submit their substitution plans to the regional governments. A binding target of 30% of all customers was set for 2010. However, this initial target could not be reached by any of the DSOs due to a late approval of the substitution plan (in May 2009), technological uncertainties in terms of system communication, alleged supply problems of certified meters that were available only in June 2010 and ongoing negotiations with the regulators about the level of cost acceptance.
A smart metering pilot project is being conducted by Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) involving 300,000 clients supplied by 7,000 low-voltage transformers. In June 2008 ERDF awarded the AMM pilot project to a consortium managed by Atos Origin, including Actaris, Landis+Gyr, and Iskraemeco. The aim of the trial is to deploy 300k meters and 6k concentrators in two distinct geographic areas, the Indre-et-Loire (37) department and the Lyon urban region (69). This project affecting 1% of LV customers is a pre-cursor to national deployment for 35 million clients in France. The experimentation phase started in March 2010. A key determining factor will be the interoperability of various suppliers’ equipment. The general deployment phase, involving replacement of 35 million meters, will start in 2012 and continue thru 2017.
Upon getting into the coalition government in 2007, Eamon Ryan, the Green Party Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, pledged to introduce smart meters for every home in the Republic of Ireland within a five year period. In an interview[50] the minister said he envisages a situation where smart meters would use plug-in hybrid cars as storage for micro-generated renewable energy by intelligently diverting the energy into the car. A leading energy expert has expressed concerns[51] that whatever system of smart metering arises in Ireland must give homeowners the possibility of automatically responding to fluctuating electricity prices by, for instance, buying electricity when at its cheapest, and selling micro-generated electricity from wind turbines or solar photovoltaic panels into the grid when the best price is available.
As stated above, Italy has already deployed a large number of smart electrical meters. Legislation[52] has recently been released, forcing gas utilities to deploy smart gas meters from large industrial consumers down to almost every residential customer by the end of 2016. It is expected and even wanted, that remote reading and management of smart gas meters will be fully independent of the existing system of smart electrical meters. The technology intended to be used will mainly be radio based. More information can be found on the authority's webpage.[53]
Malta is in the process of implementing smart meters in all commercial and private households. Enemalta, a governments' company responsible for electricity is responsible for the introduction of the smart meters. This will occur in phases and it is projected that every meter in Malta will be 'smart' by 2012. This will cost the Ministry of Infrastructure, Technology and Communication in the region of 40 million euros. The 'smart meters' being used in Malta are manufactured by IBM. A pilot project is currently underway and more than 5,000 are being installed.[54] The cost of the installation will be totally absorbed by the government.
Of all smart meter technologies, one critical technological problem is communication. Each meter must be able to reliably and securely communicate the information collected to some central location. Considering the varying environments and locations where meters are found, that problem can be daunting. Among the solutions proposed are: the use of cell/pager networks, satellite, licensed radio, combination licensed and unlicensed radio, power line communication. Not only the medium used for communication purposes but the type of network used is also critical. As such one would find: fixed wireless, mesh network or a combination of the two. There are several other potential network configurations possible, including the use of Wi-Fi and other internet related networks. To date no one solution seems to be optimal for all applications. Rural utilities have very different communication problems from urban utilities or utilities located in difficult locations such as mountainous regions or areas ill-served by wireless and internet companies.
ANSI C12.18 is an ANSI standard that describes a protocol used for two-way communications with an electricity meter, mostly used in North American markets. The C12.18 standard is written specifically for meter communications via an ANSI Type 2 Optical Port, and specifies lower-level protocol details. ANSI C12.19 specifies the actual data tables. ANSI C12.21 is an extension of C12.18 written for modem instead of optical communications, so is better suited to automatic meter reading.
IEC 61107 is a communication protocol for smart meters published by the IEC that is widely-used for utility meters in the European Union. It is superseded by IEC 62056, but remains in wide use because it is simple and well-accepted. It sends ASCII data using a serial port. The physical media are either modulated light, sent with an LED and received with a photodiode, or a pair of wires, usually modulated by EIA-485. The protocol is half-duplex. IEC 61107 is related to, and sometimes wrongly confused with, the FLAG protocol. Ferranti and Landis+Gyr were early proponents of an interface standard that eventually became a sub-set of IEC1107.
IEC 62056 - is a more modern European meter protocol and superset of IEC 61107.
There is a growing trend towards the use of TCP/IP technology as a common communication platform for Smart Meter applications, so that utilities can deploy multiple communication systems, while using IP technology as a common management platform.[55][56] Other solutions suggest the use of a single, universal connector separating the function of the smart grid device and its communication module.[57] A universal metering interface would allow for development and mass production of smart meters and smart grid devices prior to the communication standards being set, and then for the relevant communication modules to be easily added or switched when they are. This would lower the risk of investing in the wrong standard as well as permit a single product to be used globally even if regional communication standards vary.[58]
The other critical technology for Smart Meter systems is the information technology at the utility that integrates the Smart Meter networks with the utility applications such as billing and CIS. This includes the Meter Data Management system.
It is also important for Smart Grid implementations that powerline communications (PLC) technologies used within the home over a Home Area Network (HAN) are standardized and compatible. The HAN allows HVAC systems and other household appliances to communicate with the smart meter, and from there to the utility. Currently there are several broadband or narrowband standards in place or being developed that are not yet compatible. In order to address this issue, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) established the PAP15 group which will study and recommend coexistence mechanisms with a focus on the harmonization of PLC standards for the HAN. The objective of the group is to ensure that all PLC technologies selected for the HAN will coexist as a minimum. The two main broadband PLC technologies selected are the HomePlug AV / IEEE 1901 and ITU-T G.hn technologies; technical working groups within these organizations are working to develop appropriate coexistence mechanisms. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance has developed a new standard for smart grid HAN communications called the HomePlug Green PHY specification. It is interoperable and coexistent with the widely deployed HomePlug AV technology and with the new IEEE 1901 global standard and is based on Broadband OFDM technology. ITU-T commissioned in 2010 a new project called G.hnem, to address the home networking aspects of energy management, built upon existing Low Frequency Narrowband OFDM technologies.
Google.org's PowerMeter can use a smart meter for tracking electricity usage,[59] as can eMeter's Energy Engage as in, for example, the PowerCentsDC(TM) demand response program. Google PowerMeter was retired in September 2011[60].
After receiving numerous complaints about health and privacy concerns with the wireless, digital devices, Maine's Public Utility Commission voted to allow customers to opt out of the meters, at a cost of $12 a month.
Connecticut is one of the latest states to consider smart metering. Regulators declined a request by the state's largest utility, Connecticut Light & Power, to install 1.2 million of the devices, arguing that the potential savings in electric bills doesn't justify the cost. CL&P already offers its customers time-based rates. Attorney General George Jepsen was quoted as saying the proposal would cause customers to spend upwards of $500 million on meters and get few benefits in return, a claim that Connecticut Light & Power disputed.[61]
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) are systems that measure, collect and analyse energy usage, and communicate with metering devices such as electricity meters, gas meters, heat meters, and water meters, either on request or on a schedule. These systems include hardware, software, communications, consumer energy displays and controllers, customer associated systems, Meter Data Management (MDM) software, and supplier business systems.
The network between the measurement devices and business systems allows collection and distribution of information to customers, suppliers, utility companies and service providers. This enables these businesses to participate in demand response services. Consumers can use information provided by the system to change their normal consumption patterns to take advantage of lower prices. Pricing can be used to curb growth of peak consumption.
AMI differs from traditional automatic meter reading (AMR) in that it enables two-way communications with the meter. Systems only capable of meter readings do not qualify as AMI systems.[62]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||