Archive for Smart metering
BBC talks about Dynamic Demand (smart fridges) and Smart Metering.
Posted by: | CommentsBBC programme “You and Yours” discussed the issues in a pretty comprehensive and well researched manner.. A representative from David Hirst’s (A Claverton Member) RLTek company described how the frequency sensitive device, fitted to fridges, which are now being sold in UK can help the grid.
Also talked to the Opposition spokesman on energy about Smart Meter and Smart Grids. They described the benefits, but the BBC noted a DEC / BERR report which stated that the benefits for the consumer would be small, and much larger for the utilities. this was more or less denied by the Conservative spokesman.
The point is that Smart Metering is widely considered by some commentators to be a wheeze (Peers for Laws?) to allow the utilities to give up on their hopelessly managed job of actually reading meters (currently with a Meter Reader) – and pile the costs onto consumers by fitting more expensive Smart Meters. Most of the benefits could be achieved by much simpler and cheaper devices.
There was no mention of the fact that both of the systems covered would assist renewables by allowing loads to be deferred not merely from peak demand periods, but to peak wind/renewable generation periods.
http://www.claverton-energy.com/download/143/
http://www.claverton-energy.com/download/144/
http://www.claverton-energy.com/energy-experts-library/downloads/loadmanagement
Popularity: 14% [?]
“How will mandatory smart metering affect you?” Howard Stark – MD Stark Systems
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New licence conditions for the supply of electricity and gas will be introduced on April 6 this year. These new conditions are an essential building block in the Government’s carbon reduction programme for the UK. Under these changes, all Profile Class 5-8 electricity meters, and all metered gas consuming over 732,000 kWh a year, must be replaced by smart meters.
The new metering standards for all Profile Class 5-8 meters will be CoP10 for whole current and CoP5 for CT meters. Customers have until 2014 to change their meters, but any smart meter installed as from the New Year must comply with this new metering code of practice. Read More→
Popularity: 14% [?]
Cost of utility’s (WPD) fatal imcompetence – a mere £270,000
Posted by: | CommentsFrom the wonderful Electrical Review Column – Gossage
“The late Professor Roland Levinsky was a pioneering immunologist, and vice-chancellor of the University of Plymouth. He died because, in atrocious weather conditions, he walked into a live 11,000 volt power cable left dangling across a footpath near Wembury, Devon.
It was not as if the cable owners, Western Power Distribution (WPD), did not know about their insecure high-voltage cable. The company had been contacted several times by concerned people who had seen the cable hanging loose.
But instead of logging the problem as “dangerous”, the company call centre instead listed it as just “miscellaneous”. So the power was never turned off. And an engineer dispatched to fix the fault was diverted elsewhere.
And the cost to WPD for its incompetence, which took the life of a distinguished academic? The paltry total of £270,000. Including legal costs. In a world where electricity companies are walking off with billions worth of unearned, windfall profits, such judicial generosity makes me despair.”
This is another examples of the shambles resulting from stupid modern ”management” methods, and excessive belief in the benefits of the free market and competition, which involved the break up of integrated industries, (WPD used to be part of SWEB – the old local integrated electricity company) once staffed by long term, dedicated qualified people, since replaced by the call centre culture with untrained temporary staff working off a script and the attendant loss of tacit knowledge which is vital to organisations but which is ignored by modern management theory.
When WPD was part of SWEB it was possible to get accurate bills and energy data on mag tape which worked perfectly – now SWEB cannot actually calculate and deliver correct half hourly bills. It is impossible to get meters installed or moved without going through a complicated and involved process, whereas in the past one could simply phone up SWEB, make a request and know it would be done.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Labour Peer allegedly boasted he took money to push smart metering legislation
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to various news outlets today, Lord Truscott, one of the “Peers for Laws” had boasted that he had initiated amendments to legislation forcing the installation of smart meters. This may be a good thing I hear you say. But basically it is a wheeze to allow the electricity companies to sack their meter readers and force us to pay for the expensive meters so they don’t have to read them.
This has stymied a much cheaper and quicker to implement plan to put cheap-and-cheerful real time clip on monitors which can be simply connected by current clips installed by the householder and which give as good an indication to the user of what he is using when as a smart meter. The reason the utilities favour this approach is because they have sacked so many meter readers and people who understand billing, and who know where all the meters are, that they cannot read the meters or actually calculate correct bills.
For more incompetence this time from WPD, once part of SWEB see Gossage.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Smart Metering 2009; Making it Happen
Posted by: | CommentsThe Institution of Engineering and Technology are working with Tom Eales from Special Report Publishing who is producing a 16 page Smart Metering Supplement, to be published in The Daily Telegraph.
The supplement will focus on explaining the advantages, opportunities and challenges around smart metering for business and will be published in The Daily Telegraph on the 27th November 2008 with a huge circulation of 610,000 copies.
Further copies will be distributed at Smart Metering 2009 and all editorial content will also be published on the Daily Telegraph Business Club website. The tabloid-sized page report will be written by highly regarded journalists and industry speakers and will be packed with relevant editorial.
Please contact Tom Eales directly by email at tom.eales@srpublishing.co.uk or phone on +44 (0)20 7629 7080 if you would like to be find out more about sponsorship, publishing and advertising opportunities in the report. Tom can also send you more information or copies of previous supplements.
Kind regards,
Ian Collier
Power Networks Event Producer
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