‘Smart’ electricity meters can manage your energy usage for you, but are they really the future?

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Smart electricity meters have been touted as the answer to giving households cheaper electricity bills, but critics warn that some of the benefits could be an illusion in an emerging industry that is largely unregulated.

Transcript

00:00At home in Sydney's south-eastern suburbs, Kerry Bradbury keeps a close eye on her power

00:07use.

00:08But what was a routine exercise started to fill her with dread.

00:12And it got to the stage where you're actually afraid to open your electricity bill.

00:16The bills could be as high as $2,000.

00:19So Kerry took matters into her own hands.

00:22A few years ago, she installed batteries, new solar panels and a heap of smart tech

00:26in her home.

00:27At $28,000, it wasn't cheap.

00:30But she won't have to pay a power bill now for seven years.

00:34All of it's automated.

00:35I don't have time to try and work out who's selling my electricity, what's the best price,

00:41when's the best price to be using it.

00:43Key to the arrangement are two things.

00:45The smart meter that was installed at Kerry's home and the copious amounts of data it generates.

00:50Together, they ensure she uses as much power as possible during the middle of the day when

00:55solar energy is abundant, while trying to use only what's stored in the battery later.

01:01Authorities hope the likes of Kerry Bradbury can be an example for others to follow.

01:05It's one of the reasons they want smart meters on every Australian home by 2030.

01:10But consumer advocates are warning that many of the supposed benefits could be an illusion.

01:15Because the smart meter market is largely unregulated.

01:19In that blank space, there's possibility for metering providers to use the meter and the

01:24data it provides for their own benefit and not necessarily for consumers.

01:29They say consumers typically don't choose their smart meter provider.

01:32It's chosen for them by a retailer like AGL or Origin.

01:36The metering companies effectively control the consumer's data and can make it extremely

01:41difficult for anyone else to use that information.

01:45Critics say the relationship between smart meter companies and retailers means they,

01:49and not consumers, are likely to get the most of any benefits.

01:53If we get this wrong, the energy transition will be more expensive for consumers and there

01:58will be a lot more complications than there should be.

02:01I know who would win.

02:02It would be the big boys who would win over a little person like me.

02:07Far from empowering consumers, the Sydney side of worries there could be a dark side.

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