More than smart!

As technology gets smarter and smarter, are we under danger of privacy invasion from the same? That is what a European watchdog in charge of protecting personal data feels about smart meters. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has warned that smart meters, which must be introduced into every home in the UK within the next seven years, will be used to track much more than energy consumption unless proper safeguards are introduced.
It says that "while the Europe-wide rollout of smart metering systems may bring significant benefits, it will also enable massive collection of personal data". The technology could be used to track what "households do within the privacy of their own homes, whether they are away on holiday or at work, if someone uses a specific medical device or a baby monitor, or how they spend their free time".

The potential for extensive data mining is very significant," said the EDPS, noting how profiles can be used for many other purposes, including marketing, advertising and price discrimination by third parties.

The European Commission is now under pressure to consider whether legislation should be introduced to ensure that smart meters do not breach data protection rules.

All homes are expected to have their old meters replaced with the new technology by the end of 2019. The installation of smart meters will cost an estimated £11bn in the UK. Surprisingly, despite a nationwide rollout from 2014, few consumers are aware of the new technology.

The watchdog does not rule out potential benefits such as accurate bills and opportunities to help consumers save money on energy bills, but feels they should be aware of the dangers too.

Research in Germany, for example, has found that consumers didn’t quite take to the eye within homes! The EDPS recommends that states issue guidance on the frequency of meter readings, how long data can be stored and the use of sophisticated algorithms that allow companies to create profiles of their customers.

As they say, you gain something, you lose something. We just need to balance the two and be clear about priorities.

Smart moves ahead

A new report predicts that 100 million new smart meters will be installed across Europe between now and the end of 2016 as nations continent-wide aim to achieve greater energy efficiency and increased reliance on renewable sources of energy.

According to GTM Research, European investment in smart grid improvements will reach €6.8 billion annually, with much of that money targeting advanced meter infrastructure, energy distribution automation, and electric vehicle technology.

Among those sectors, the report says, smart meters, which allow consumers to track their energy use in real time and relay that information to utilities, are currently the most developed technology. According to the report, many European utilities hope to use smart meter technology to improve their relationships with customers.

Meanwhile, U.S.-based Pike Research reports that 19.2 million smart meters were shipped worldwide during the third quarter of 2011, a 5.3 percent increase over the previous quarter; growth was particularly strong in North America and China, according to the Pike report.

Smart is not enough

The campaign to conserve electricity in the home needs to pay more attention to consumers and not just fix on the gee-whiz technology of smart meters, a US energy conservation advocacy organization says.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a report summarizing 57 pilot tests of household energy conservation strategies in this country and abroad, finding that annual electricity savings ranged from 4 to 12 percent.

The good news from the tests is that consumers can trim their electricity consumption significantly, but smart meters alone can’t do that. A good amount of consumer eduation is required.

To realize the potential savings in household electricity use, consumers must be provided a range of "positive reinforcement" through up-to-the-minute feedback showing them that their conservation efforts matter, the center said.

Many utilities are deploying smart meters for their own business purposes, ACEEE concludes while programs to enlist consumer support are lagging. The devices eliminate the need for meter readers, permit remote customer connections and disconnects, and speed restoration of service after storms.

The ACEE report does not give similar weight to proposals for real-time or time-of-use pricing -- controversial policies that would permit utilities to vary their electricity rates during the day based on the costs they pay for wholesale power. Some leading analysts argue that unless consumers see, and pay for, the true cost of power when demand peaks, they won't have the financial motivation to turn off appliances or shift thermostat settings to when prices fall.

But the center believes financial benefits may not be the right focus as much as appealing to people's sense of responsibility as energy consumers. Well, it depends on which part of the world you are living in! And yes, finally how aware the people are of the energy crisis.

To go smart or wait?

Smart is the way to be, and India is not going to lag behind. The government is in the process of setting up the “India Smart Grid Task Force” which will be chaired by Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation.

The task force will be an Inter-Ministerial Group and will serve as a focal point for activities related to the Smart Grid and will lay a roadmap for development of Smart Grid in India aided by the most modern and latest technologies in the field.

The Stake Holders Ministry of Power (MoP) will be the Patron of the Forum and PFC, REC will be permanent invitees and members. Initially the Forum will be open by invitation to selected state power utilities, private power utilities, power sector PSUs, empanelled System Integrators, SCADA Consultants and Implementing Agencies of R-APDRP, selected educational and research institutes, NGOs, CEA, CERC, CPRI, FICCI and NASSCOM.

Smart grids are digitally enhanced power systems that use modern communication and control technologies efficiently. Apart from providing choices to the consumer and motivating them to participate in the operations of the grid, causing energy efficiency and accommodating all generation and storage options, Smart Grid also envisages various properties for the Grid like self-healing and adaptive islanding. This all will enable electricity markets to flourish.

In the west there are as many success stories of smart grids as failures. Failures have been where having a smart meter did not encourage efficient use of power, as also worries over the cost of gadgets. This is going to be all the more pertinent in a developing nation where ordinary meters are wont to be stolen.

Should India be getting into the smart business now or first tackle issues like power theft, etc?

Time to hop on to the smart wagon

The smart grid industry in the US has almost 4 billion dollars invested in stimulus funds. A lot of attention has been focussed on upgradation of the decades old power grid there. But smart grids will cost money. Can developing nations afford a fancy? According to experts, rapid economic growth requires smart grids but there are also some other reasons in this segment.

China is predicted to be one of the hottest smart grid markets in the coming years given its energy needs are expected to double in 10 years, and the country’s dominant power distribution company, State Grid Corp., has a goal of building out a smart grid by 2020. Indian utilities are still looking at pilot projects and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) is working on a smart grid pilot project.

According to research from the Bangalore-based nonprofit Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), there are five reasons why developing countries need, and want, smart grids: stop power theft (by simple power accounting), power quality (often poor) that can be improved through grid load balancing, a chance to leapfrog to smart grids in places where the grid is non-existent, while the cost can be offset by taking on new consumers! Not to forget how a smart grid will help with renewable energy.

Agree? Do you think developing nations can bear the costs? Considering how in parts of the US, smart meters have no takers, given their costs! Or is there some way of financing the cost?

UK to go 'smart'

A long-delayed UK government announcement on smart meters has finally been delivered. But the question remains: will this lead to reductions in energy use?

A 2006 study for Defra (the UK Government’s environment department) by the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute suggested energy savings of 5-15 per cent. This was challenged by the Government’s energy regulator, Ofgem, which back in 2006 offered a “conservative assumption of a 1 per cent reduction”, and which now recommends a Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) assessment of 2.8 per cent savings for electricity and 4.5 per cent for gas.

Why the difference?

The answer is that smart meters can only be half the story. The other half is the consumer and how the behavious at that end changes, or not. While smart meters will supply real-time, accurate figures on a household’s energy, whether any energy is saved depends on whether the consumer acts on the information that the meter supplies.

Will it simply see another gadget added to the menagerie? Will people shift the time when they choose to use gadgets at home? To a time when the energy is cheaper? If so, how will there be a reduction of overall use? So if households are still using almost the same amount of energy overall, how do smart meters help? And what if cheap energy only invites more of it to be spent??

But as the article explains, the reduction or energy savings come in the form of power stations that are always on to cope with an uncertain demand. At off-peak times this energy is wasted.
Reducing peak demand levels and spreading energy use more evenly makes the system more efficient, meaning that the UK needs to build fewer power stations. General Electric estimates that this process can reduce overall energy demand by 5 per cent.

But people will make a shift in timing only if there is a considerable change in the time of the day pricings.

The other way to look at it is that utilities will have more control over homes. Rationing energy supplies will become more real. Whether it is under a central authority or not, power companies will be given some control. It will take some more time before the consumer can actually ‘buy’ energy like anything else in the market, but he will be able to sell it should he choose to generate.

Is smart meter a good decision?

Let's be smart

Nokia has just announced it is developing a smart home platform to offer consumers new ways to control their homes with a mobile device. The platform is opening a new era for networked home services and solutions.

All solutions based on the platform can be used through a smart phone or PC locally or remotely. Consumers can monitor and control their electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor different objects, such as temperature, camera, and motion. In a second step, Nokia and RWE are planning additional services in connection with smart meters beyond 2009. These services will provide consumers with real-time information about their energy consumption and allow them to control their energy bill remotely.

Meanwhile, the UK and Europe recognise the need to modernise and liberalise an ageing electricity grid, create economies of scale for renewable energy and promote consumer efficiency. All this would require a smart grid, smart meters. As energy demand goes up and supply falls woefully behind, smart metering is expected to revolutionise energy management and grid reliability across the globe.

A recent study suggests that meters are capable of delivering a 10 per cent cut in annual energy use. Another estimates that dynamic demand-side response in the EU could save electricity equivalent to the domestic consumption of Germany and Spain.

A flexible and dynamic grid is the need of the hour.

The article goes on to note that smart metering alone will not bring a 20 per cent increase in energy efficiency, a 20 per cent increase in renewable energy or a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. But none of these targets are possible without a functional smart grid underpinned by smart meter infrastructure.

Smart metering allows the consumer to know in real time the power consumed from every gadget within his home. With a time of the day billing system, he/she will know when best to do the chores at home.

Going one step ahead is the smart grid. Smart grids will allow two-way communication between homes and utilities and the ability to remotely control appliances and power consumption, which leads to accurate real-time pricing by utilities, and accurate monitoring and conservation. Utilities can send response demands to homes during peak hours, homeowner energy use habits can be tracked and adjusted, etc.

An ageing gridline can be vitalised by smart meters, networking software and hardware, energy storage, etc. IBM, Google, and many other players have entered the field, seeing an opportunity. Reducing losses, increasing efficiency from generation, distribution to end-use will be aided by smart technology.

The concept is just catching wide attention in the west. But given that we have the technical IT prowess, any reason why we cannot be a leader? The initial costs are going to be high but eventually it will bring in savings.