Who’s the smartest?

Utility Week’s Senior Executive Panel is by and large supportive of Decc’s smart metering strategy – though not necessarily with the consumer front of mind. By Karma Ockenden.

The smart meter rollout here in the UK may be unconventional, and now delayed, but it has the confidence of utility leaders, according to Utility Week/Accent research. We polled our Senior Executive Panel – a group of high level utility executives assembled to give comment, opinion and feedback to us on topical issues – on various aspects of the smart meter rollout. While a sceptical minority emerged, most endorsed the policy in the round.
Two-thirds agreed that smart meters were vital for cutting household energy use while all respondents said the devices would alter consumer behaviour to some extent. There was some uncertainty as to whether the industry would be ready for the challenges about to be thrown at it, although 73 per cent felt it would or might be ready and the panel was completely confident that consumer privacy and data use did not pose any great concern.
However, the results suggest that some of the positive sentiment towards smart metering may be motivated by self-interest rather than consumer concern. Over half the respondents said benefits would outweigh costs (though around one-third were unsure). But respondents were split over who exactly would benefit most: 40 per cent said energy companies; 40 per cent consumers; and 20 per cent businesses. Moreover, a third felt the rollout would disadvantage the customer to an extent, with verbatim answers pointing in particular to the costs consumers would have to shoulder.
Rob Sheldon, managing director at Accent, comments: “We have seen a real mix in opinion on the topic of smart meters and have uncovered some useful points which could be of real benefit to consumers, suppliers and government when it comes to rolling out this project. It’s interesting to see the even split between who will benefit the most from this programme.”
Full results are shown in the charts, together with a selection of comments from panellists.