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Smart meter early adopters may lose out because they will have to wait until 2019 or beyond to upgrade to interoperable meters.
A consultation on the second smart meter equipment technical specification (SMETS2), due to be used for the mass rollout, closes on 8 October. However, hundreds of thousands of households already have a smart meter built to a less demanding specification (SMETS1).
David Green, business development director at Smartreach, warned that the early adopters would have “basic meters with basic functionality”. He said they “probably will get replaced by 2019”, once the nationwide rollout of meters has been completed.
Green added “it is unlikely that SMETS1 will upgrade to a SMETS2 specification” because the difference between the two types of meters will be more than updated software.
Meanwhile, Which? is calling on Decc to co-ordinate the smart meter trials and has proposed a “smart town” pilot area bringing together several suppliers.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 28th September 2012.
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