Can you remind me again what a smart meter is?
In essence it is a meter that records your energy usage but in a more advanced way than old-school meters. Rather than simply recording how much energy you are using, it constantly feeds it back to the ESB, which means that estimated bills will be a thing of the past if you have one installed.
ESB? I thought the company was called Electric Ireland now?
Yes and no. Electric Ireland is an energy supplier but it has long since been spun off from the ESB, which once controlled the electricity supply for the whole country. The ESB no longer sells energy to us but it manages the grid. It collects the usage data from your smart meter and then passes it on to your supplier — which may be Electric Ireland or any of the other suppliers in the State — and they are they ones who do the billing.
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So a smart meter means the end of the meter readings?
That’s right. And if a smart meter was being used to its full capacity then you would be able to see in real time how much energy you are using. The thinking behind that is that if we can see how much energy we are using — in the same way that we can see how much water we are using because our taps are running — we might moderate our usage, which would be better for the environment and for our pockets.
Well that sounds good. How many smart meters do we have installed?
About a million have already been installed but a further 1.4 million will need to be put into people’s homes for us all to have them.
And do I have to pay to have one installed?
There is no upfront charge although that is not to say it is free and, as Electric Ireland says, “the cost of the meter upgrade will be recouped over time in charges paid for use of the electricity network”.
So with a smart meter installed I automatically get cheaper electricity, right?
No. Smart meters allow suppliers to charge different tariffs depending on the time of use. That means companies have the capacity to charge less at offpeak times, when energy is less in demand and then more at times of peak demand, such as between 5pm and 7pm.
But I will still save money with a smart meter?
Again, no, or at least not necessarily. For starters, many companies charge a higher standard unit rate to smart-meter customers than the discounted rates on offer to people with standard meters. They may, however, offer other money-saving incentives such as completely free electricity on one day over the weekend. If you were on such a package then you could possibly save money by cramming all your usage of energy-intensive appliances such as your tumble dryer or washing machine into the one free day and then not use them at all on the other six days of the week.
Can you give me an example?
Well, one smart tariff from Electric Ireland, for example, has a rate of 42.3 cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) between 8am and 11pm. The night rate from 11pm until 8am is 20.9 cent per kWh with a boosted rate of 12.25 cent per kWh between 2am and 4am. The standard unit rate on offer with the company, is 39.6 cent per kWh. That means that someone who switches to a smart meter tariff but continues to use the vast majority of their energy between 8am and 11pm will end up spending more than someone who sticks with a standard tariff but if they move much of their energy usage to the night time — particularly in the two hours between 2am and 4am, they will make substantial savings.
And once I have a smart meter installed everything else falls into place.
No. In fact the vast, vast majority of people who have smart meters installed are effectively using them as if they were the meters of times past in the sense that they are not availing of any smart tariffs offered by their suppliers. According to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities less than 5 per cent of people with smart meters have moved on to a smart meter tariff.
Why weren’t all the people who had smart meters installed automatically put on to smart meter tariffs?
Because there are different smart meter tariffs offered by companies so consumers have to make choices. Another reason given was GDPR and a requirement to opt into any scheme that processes your personal data at this level.
[ Large users will pay 10% more for peak-time electricity useOpens in new window ]
Is there any reason so few people have signed up to smart tariffs?
People are slow to make changes, for starters. That is why hundreds of thousands of people have never switched energy providers despite the savings that have been on the table for more than a decade. Another issue is an understandable lack of understanding as to how smart meters work. The absence of real incentives to make the switch is another issue, while confusion as to what the different tariffs are is another stumbling block.
So the roll-out of a million meters has been a waste of time?
Absolutely not. We are all going to have smart meters eventually so you may as well have one installed sooner rather than later. The information flow between the grid operator and suppliers will make the system better and us better informed. It is also worth remembering that we are at the starting point and in the short to medium term there will be more ways we can assess our energy usage and control it using the smart metering system and apps on our smartphones. Even today a person with a smart meter can make savings, although they will have to be on top of their usage and habits to do so.
