HP Energy Conference: managed services essential for smart grid success

Utility companies need more of an incentive to invest

Utility companies will have to manage consumer energy use on behalf of their customers for smart grid roll outs to be effective.

This is according to HP's worldwide director of the utilities industry, Ian Mitton, who spoke to Computing at HP's Energy Conference in Istanbul this week. "If you just put a smart meter in, what's the benefit to the consumer? There is no guarantee that they will use the data," he said.

"Installing smart meters by putting in a piece of software for meter data management and then linking that to a billing system isn't good enough [for effective consumer take up]," Mitton added.

There is concern in the industry that once smart meters have been rolled out, customers will not make use of the data provided in order to improve energy efficiency.

"The business case is very tough," said Mitton. "It's all about the data. If you can exploit the data being created and look at new services that could be offered, that's a much better business model.

"Historically, utility companies have been about wires and pipes through the walls. In the future, however, there should be a customer-centric approach to services offered. The smart utility companies are the ones that understand this and they will be the ones that make gains in market share."

Mitton foresees utility companies moving into home energy management, in which they can take control of such things as the home's thermostat or dishwasher, and operate them at times when it is most efficient.

"These services mean that the utility companies could turn the thermostat down whilst the consumer is out, and the dishwasher, for example, could be turned on at night when electricity prices are at their cheapest," said Mitton.

The UK government plans to roll out smart meters to over 27 million homes by 2020.