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Smart metering is a sexy topic in the energy world, with nearly all Western economies considering plans for large deployments.  It can be used in many different ways but normally there is more than one goal behind a smart metering deployment: In the US, smart metering was, for the most part, driven by the desire to reduce the costs associated with manual meter reading, to reduce peak load and to enhance security of supply. In Italy, one of the key drivers was tackling energy theft and the cost of managing meters. In Ontario, it was peak shaving and the move toward time-of-use pricing. But if smart meters have the potential to address a number of issues, that potential can only be realised by flexible system design and deployment, avoiding excessive rigidity. In this case, one size most certainly does not fit all. We fear that the UK’s current plans for a nationwide rollout of smart meters may well be taking us down the wrong path by imposing standard solutions on the wrong part of the system.

My Smart Meter is Irrelevant!  The surprising lesson in all of this is that my smart meter has almost nothing to do with any of these lessons.  The data I rely upon was available before my smart meter was installed and the monthly summaries are still the most useful data available for my purposes.  So where is the consumer benefit from smart meters?  As far as I can tell all the benefits are flowing to PG&E, but my rates are still going up.

These restrictions are beginning to subside with the advent of virtual net metering (VNM). VNM is an electric tariff that allows for the net-metering credits from a single solar generating system to be distributed among multiple electric service accounts.

A new study released by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) reveals that smart meters alone are not sufficient to cut domestic energy consumption.

A single 25-meter sphere at a depth of 400 meters could store up to 6 megawatt-hours of power, so a large offshore wind farm with hundreds or even thousands of those could become a giant on-demand battery, potentially producing as much power as large power plants (it all depends on how far you scale up the idea). These anchor/storage spheres could be built on land and then brought out to sea. No need for too much super-expensive deep sea construction.Preliminary estimates indicate that one such sphere could be built and deployed at a cost of about $12 million, Hodder says, with costs gradually coming down with experience. This could yield an estimated storage cost of about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour — a level considered viable by the utility industry.