Is the Smart Meter going to provide the benefits claimed? They say the unreliable wind power will mean less peak capability so incentives will be given to turn off power at peak times and that home generators can sell back into the grid.
This sounds good but surely issuing these meters to people with home generators would be a first priority. Then a second priority will be those whose energy use exceeds the norm.
I’d be amazed if having one in our house saved a penny. There must be millions like me who keep an eye on their heating timer and setting. There is a compromise between the budget allowed and how warm the house is. The opposite might be true as it could encourage energy use if it was cheaper off peak and more expensive at peak time.
Also we have just had our gas and electricity meters changed. What happens to these old meters? Who is making the new ones? Should they be British made meters or will 26million electricity meters and 21 million gas meters be bought from China so save pounds but cost jobs, well-being and health.
What alternatives are there? If I was to ensure minimal peak power use the biggest savings in our house would be a timer on the electric water heater to ensure it is off at peak (there already is one). The biggest user of fuel by far in our house is the central heating and that is already on only for a limited time as we’ve gone more into heating individual rooms around the time we use them.
How much incentive are we going to get to improve our energy use. The people on the trials with these units are like the well known Hawthorn experiment where people being watched worked harder and harder. In reality the meter will soon just be a background item that no-one notices. Surely it will be preferable that its introduction should come with some cost offsetting incentive like going to a new tariff or buying a wind generator to give you a new meter rather than a blanket change over.
Who is paying for this? It seems the government is announcing this when surely if it is so wonderful the utility companies would be launching it. I would imagine the utility companies see it as good business just fitting these new units. Who wouldn’t with some 50m meters to change sounds like a good earner.
Overall without further education it appears the strategy for rolling out the new meters is flawed and that the benefits of their use are not as great as claimed.