Media Release – 26 June 2009
Smart meters are only smart if the people using them are fully informed about their benefits, according to Powershop chief executive Ari Sargent.
Mr Sargent echoed claims from the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment (PCE) that past and current smart meter installation programmes are short-sighted and have not passed on savings to consumers.
“Everybody knows New Zealanders are paying more for their electricity than they need to. Power companies have kept consumers in the dark. Introducing smart meters hasn’t changed that.
“As a consumer you have the right to know how much power you use every day and choose how you manage and pay for it,” Mr Sargent says.
The technology is already available in New Zealand today to do this via the Internet. Powershop.co.nz, the world’s first online electricity store, allows consumers to regularly keep track of their usage, so they have an understanding of how much electricity they are using and when usage is greatest.
“People are smarter than a smart meter and can make the right choices if they have the right information,” Mr Sargent said.
The debate around the use of the Home Area networks (HAN) to control appliances was a red herring, Mr Sargent said.
“The smart one in this equation isn’t an electricity meter that turns off appliances at certain times, it’s the person. It’s people who make decisions about how and when to use power. Home networks are several years away, and consumers are missing opportunities to use power wisely today.
“Powershop is about providing information to consumers that they can understand and that’s meaningful, so they can make smart decisions for themselves.”
Powershop also offers consumers the ability to choose, and switch between competitively priced electricity products to get the best deal for them, rather than being tied to a single provider.
Mr Sargent said in the coming weeks Powershop would be releasing a new product that demonstrates how smart meters can deliver real benefits to consumers.
Smart metering will alter the rate for power during peak, off peak and normal times, The end user must be informed when these periods occur, dont see how Powershop product is going to do this.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:21 am@Mike:
Our view is that people need to understand their overall consumption before they get into more sophisticated load-shifting, and to be honest most people won’t bother – that is where home area networks that automate demand response without consumers even knowing do come into play, but these are several years away yet.
In the meantime, the focus of Powershop is to deliver simple, understandable information that allows customers to easily see what they are using, and hopefully start using power more wisely.
Powershop will evolve and add more services as in-home technology evolves.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:31 amI agree with Ari.
As a qualified planner I don’t really trust so-called automation, which is simply programmed to follow certain algorithm. Demand and capacity management is far more complicated than a given algorithm to cope therefore needs more understanding of the background operations. Once people get a rough idea, they can choose to manage themselves or opt out for Powershop management.
Looking forward to your new product, Ari!
July 1st, 2009 at 10:50 amHow’s the new product coming along? Are there any smart meter roll out plans in Auckland soon?
July 30th, 2009 at 12:17 pm@Felix:
New product is taking shape nicely – we’re probably still a few weeks away from launch. We are exploring options for our own deployment in Auckland.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:03 pm[...] Sargent, head of Powershop made a post a while back to stick his foot into the ’smart meter’ debate. He advocated power users as the [...]
August 21st, 2009 at 8:51 amOur area (Wellington) is having its customer meters upgraded by Genesis to their new “Advanced Meter”.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:04 amMy question is: what happens if I want to switch to another provider that also uses a smart meter but its incompatible with the one already in use, eg Meridians meter; does the meter have to be changed again, if so who pays.
Once smart meters are installed and they are charging a variable rate for power depending on the spot prices at the time, how will this affect your product pricing to the consumer.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:17 am@Mike:
Most retailers (including Powershop) have arrangements in place with all meter owners in the areas they operate. This means that if a customer switches to a new retailer there is normally no need to change the meter.
In the future, if retailers develop products or pricing structures that are reliant on a particular meter provider or configuration they may not be able to provide these products to some customers without changing the meter, but they should be able to supply them with a ‘standard’ tariff at least.
Meters essentially only measure the power being consumed. True, smart meters can measure consumption more frequently (typically in 30 minute intervals), but this does not necessarily mean that every half hour will have a different price, and it certainly doesn’t mean that all smart meter customers will need to pay a rate linked to the spot price. Some customers may choose to, but there will always be a role for more predictable and fixed tariffs. So, at this stage we have no set plans to change the way we charge for electricity and if we do make changes we will be focused on saving our customers money.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pmMolly Melhuish posts a regular blog on these issues, and this week the blog is about smart meters, so check it out at http://www.issues.co.nz/fairelectricity/Blog
January 20th, 2010 at 4:44 pm