Summary 1
Catalyst 1
Ovum view 1
Key messages 2
Table of Contents 3
Table of figures 3
Great Britain smart metering is being driven by promises of cost and energy savings 4
48 million meters will be installed in 27 million homes by 2020 4
Smart metering will decrease the emission of greenhouse gases by accommodating increased volumes of renewable energy and energy storage 4
Smart metering can influence customer behavior to reduce overall consumption and shed peak load 6
Greater customer insight can offer a competitive advantage in the liberalized British market 7
Smart metering enables more sophisticated payment protection, reducing cost-to-serve 7
Smart metering reduces cost-to-serve in the call center 8
Ofgem's priotity is to protect and engage customers - if it fails, so smart meters will fail to deliver a positive return 8
Ofgem has recognized the need to better engage consumers, but is yet to suggest the use of external agencies to maximize engagement 8
Ofgem should consider the role of social media in gaining customer engagement 9
Ofgem recognizes the importance of installation visits in gaining consumer buy in, but has passed on the responsibility to suppliers 9
The prospectus crucially makes no reference to consumer confidence in smart meter accuracy 10
The favored 'staged implementation' appears hasty 10
In line with pre-election policy commitments, smart meter deployments will be accelerated 10
Favoring a phased approach has an air of political expediency 11
While staged implementation may please the government, it exposes many stakeholders to a number of risks 11
Meter interoperability will likely be driven by manufacturers 11
The potential risks of a staged implementation could be considerable 12
Ofgem needs a policy to protect against manipulation of the deployment process by suppliers 12
The role of the DCC will (hopefully) evolve over time 13
The proposed role of the DCC will restrict the number of applicants 13
The initial role of the DCC is uninspiring 14
It seems likely that the DCC will take on meter registration 15
The absence of data services such as VEE from the DCC's initial scope is of particular concern 15
VEE requires substantial investment, and historic deployments have suffered from scalability issues 16
The risks of abdicating responsibility for VEE from the DCC to suppliers and market settlement extend beyond the duplication of effort 16
Ofgem needs a clear VEE strategy 17
Poorly structured WAN strategy supports rapid deployment, not long-term smart grid objectives 18
WAN functional requirements are a codified rejection of power line carrier and cellular as long-term solutions 18
Ofgem must ensure that they have the right to install an external WAN module 19
The separation of WAN from meter should not be used to justify a two-phase communications strategy 19
The concept of gas companies becoming lead suppliers does not stand up to analysis 20
Recommendations 21
Recommendations for Ofgem 21
Recommendations for utilities 22
Appendix 23
Definitions 23
Author 23
Ovum Consulting 23
Disclaimer 24
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