Smart metering

Market-wide half-hourly settlement to benefit consumers by up to £4.6bn

Smart meter delay should be used to ‘reset expectations’

Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy, believes a six to 12 month delay may give the industry sufficient time to resolve connectivity issues. He said the delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic will not be as long as those resulting from technology issues in the programme's early days.

What we can already learn from the Covid-19 crisis

With the pandemic highlighting how events in one country can have huge effects globally, we need to be more aware of the consequences of our actions on the rest of the world and feed this into our smart climate change policy, according to EUA chief executive, Mike Foster

Coronavirus: BSC checks relaxed to reduce burden on code signatories

The Performance Assurance Board for the Balancing and Settlement Code has decided to amend its compliance checks in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The code administrator Elexon has also addressed concerns over the accuracy of the customer profiles used to estimate electricity demand, saying it is still assessing the impact of the lockdown on behaviour but does not believe any changes should be made at the moment.

Smart Metering Systems moves into aggregation market

SMS has acquired energy technology firm Solo Energy, which has developed the FlexiGrid aggregation platform. The company also provides battery storage, microgeneration, and electric vehicle chargers to homes and businesses.

Autoswitching – what’s not to like?

No clear message from government over smart meter rollout

Smart Energy GB appoints new chief executive

The incoming chief executive joins from his own consultancy and has previously worked for Channel 4. Incumbent CEO Sacha Deshmukh will step down in March and Smart Energy GB’s director of finance and operations Alistair Gibbons will be acting as interim until the new chief executive joins in May.

Navigating compliance complexity in renewables

The focus on renewable energy is of paramount importance to the UK government; however, this has led to significant regulatory complexity and risk for energy players operating in the UK, explains Malcolm Gray.

Coronavirus: Regulator expects ‘proportionate’ debt response from suppliers

As the government issues stark advice on limiting movement and multiple industries warn they will struggle to survive, utilities have been reminded of their responsibilities to the most vulnerable in society. Ofgem has urged suppliers to be flexible over debt recovery and late payments, while Citizens Advice has said the sector needs to be prepared for a sharp increase in those struggling to pay their bills.

Macquarie signs first smart meter deal with challenger

Macquarie’s Specialised and Asset Finance business has signed a deal with So Energy to install second-generation (SMETS2) smart meter devices. It is the first such deal Macquarie has signed with a challenger energy supplier and the first time it is offering installation and management of meters, through its partnership with Morrison Data Services.

Equitix buys smart meter portfolio for £291m

Investment management company Equitix has purchased around 187,000 smart meters for £291 million from Smart Metering Systems. The portfolio belonging to Crail Meters Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of SMS, had an average asset life of around 4.7 years and generated around £18.4 million of annual revenue last year.

Coronavirus fears to hit smart meter installations

Power to the people: Reinventing the grid

Five energy suppliers banned from taking on customers