Smart Metering - Have Businesses Taken a Lead Where the Government Failed To?

New Power UK - Perspective; By Matt Davis, of carbon and energy experts, IMServ - www.imserv.com; smart metering - have businesses taken a lead where the government failed to?

Plymouth, Devon, UK (PRWEB) October 28, 2009 -- As any business owner knows that managing energy usage, keeping track of your carbon footprint and reducing electricity and gas bills is not easy. The fact still remains however, that businesses need energy, and in certain sectors, lots of it.

When you consider that for many businesses, particularly in manufacturing or retail, energy is one of the top expenditures, it is staggering to consider how little visibility companies have over their energy costs.

What is clear is that price volatility combined with oil values reaching record levels in mid-2008 have prompted many businesses with larger utility bills to start examining their consumption more carefully.

One increasingly popular solution to the problem is the use of smart meter technology - an advanced meter that identifies consumption in a more accurate and detailed manner than a conventional meter to give businesses the ability to better manage their power consumption.

What's needed is a clear snapshot, with management-level reporting functionality, of energy consumption and spend. Modern metering technology - such as smart metering - combined with good energy data capture software is therefore the first step to managing and reducing carbon and energy.

According to the Carbon Trust, on average the UK wastes up to 20% of the energy they buy. This can occur by simply leaving computer equipment on standby during out-of-hour periods or using excessive heating. By installing a smart meter, businesses can expect to save between 10% and 15% off energy bills. A further 10% saving is also attainable if businesses drive behaviour change from this data. The smart meter is effectively a catalyst for change - once a business has access to this data it can be analysed and used to work out ways to reduce spend and cut carbon emissions.

Smart metering really does go to the core of the issue of energy consumption. The system offers businesses accurate, real time information through half hourly energy consumption readings. This allows businesses to constantly monitor and record the amount of energy used everyday. This eliminates estimated bills and consequently removes the issue of overcharging and ultimately means energy costs can be budgeted accurately. Businesses can monitor their usage patterns everyday, enabling them to identify trends of use. Consequently, smart metering not only helps businesses tackle rising energy costs but also helps change energy usage habits to ensure wastage is kept to a minimum.

The final step in a business' carbon and energy journey is to move an organisation to new levels of proactive energy management and ongoing carbon control initiatives. In the short term, using energy efficient devices and upgrading inefficient technologies will deliver immediate measurable benefits. Encouraging staff behavioral change will also make a difference to overall carbon and energy saving in the long term.

There are very few standard practices in place to assist businesses in addressing the constantly changing energy demands - smart metering is one - but as a country the UK remains well behind the rest of Europe.

The latest smart meter announcements by the Government are a really positive step for the roll out of smart meters across UK businesses, but many organisations are already one step ahead. What all businesses need to recognize now are the huge cost savings smart meters offer and the Government needs to do more to promote these.

Traditionally energy saving by businesses has been driven by a desire to improve an organizations public image, and there has been significant 'stick' initiative but not much in the way of 'carrots'. It seems the Government has lost sight of the vast benefits smart meters offer - not only environmentally but also financially. It is essential the cost savings smart metering can offer are communicated effectively to businesses.

One recent report by Forrester Research supports indications that monetary savings will be one of the key drivers in carbon and energy savings reaching a tipping point within businesses. The recession appears to have prompted businesses, large and small, to examine the range of energy saving options, motivated by a desire to save money rather than a desire to improve their image and 'green' credentials.

It appears that rather than wait for the government, many businesses are one step ahead and have had smart meters installed. IMServ alone is already responsible for over 30,000 smart meters for businesses across the UK including Boots, Thames Valley Police and BT and estimated the total number installed across the market place to be close to 50,000. The choice is simple for businesses smart meters offer an opportunity to monitor and improve energy spend.

Whilst the government mandate is a step in the right direction, companies shouldn't be nervous about being proactive when it comes to smart meters. The benefits to most organisations will have immediate effect, however in order to make the most of these benefits, it is important that organisations take advice and make the most of the data that is being collected.

The cost savings smart meters offer are significant, particularly for organisations with a large number of sites. For such organizations, energy can be one of their largest outgoings and the opportunity to cut that cost by 10% should not be ignored. These measures do not only make a difference to a businesses bottom line but being seen as 'green' is an important CSR target for businesses today.

Businesses have for too long had to rely on the ineffective business practices of the established energy providers - such as estimated billing, overcharging, confusing bills and tarfiffs. Smart metering represents a more intelligent way to provide energy to UK businesses today - with 100% accurate billing and visibility of consumption at its core.

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