Portsmouth Ferries

The Department of Energy and Climate Change authorities have publicly declared their intention to install smart meters (smart electricity meters and smart gas meters) into every UK home by the end of 2020. The ambitious initiative will see similar commitment to developing smart meter technology within UK businesses - as the government has agreed to contribute 6 million pounds to companies investing in smart meter technologies, particularly smart meters that methodically store electricity and gas.

Lord Hunt, the UK’s Energy Minister, has said in a recent statement:
“Smart meters will put the power in people’s hands, enabling us all to control how much energy we use, cut emissions and cut bills.”

Lord Hunt also provided telling insights into the future development of smart meters that include:

“Globally the business of developing smart grids has been estimated at 27 billion pounds over the next 5 years”

And expressed with great confidence that he believes the UK has the know-how to be part of this revolution.

If you’re not familiar with smart meter technologies, smart meters can be seen as a first step towards creating “smart grids” where consumers and businesses can adjust electricity use to benefit from cheaper energy at times of low-demand.

Whilst smart meters are technologically more sophisticated than ordinary display metres (which simply read the total amount of electricity or gas used since it was installed), they can also be rented from a specialist company.

The advantage of renting a smart metre is that the company who installs the metre can manage the process of setting up an account and producing reports that give businesses a comprehensive insight into areas where they’re wasting energy. This, in turn, can help manage their energy consumption more effectively, save money and take a responsible stance with regards to climate change.