How smart meters can support Britain’s energy security

Consumers can support energy security by reducing or shifting their consumption of electricity and where possible gas, Cornwall Insight advises.

In the research study for Smart Energy GB, the national smart meter campaign body with responsibility for helping consumers to understand smart meters and their benefits, market intelligence company Cornwall Insight focusses on two key ways that households and their smart meters can support energy security.

According to the report, Energy Security and Smart Meters, one way is by reducing their overall energy consumption, while the other is by increasing flexibility to manage electricity consumption through the day by shifting some usage to times where demand is lower and times when more renewable generation can be used.

These support energy security by reducing the need to operate some of the country’s most carbon intensive generating stations as well as by reducing the reliance on imports and facilitating more renewable generation.

Have you read?
Home energy usage data goes under spotlight in UK
Putting smart meters and analytics at the centre of the energy transition

They may also enable money saving and they contribute to emissions reduction.

Currently, a large share of the energy consumed in Great Britain comes from fossil fuels imported from other countries. While just under 40% of the electricity generated comes from renewable sources, just over 40% is generated using gas, of which more than half is imported.

British households directly consume around a third of all gas as well as around a third of the electricity each year. They contribute to the daily peaks in electricity demand, which occur on weekdays, usually between 4pm and 7pm when there is a crossover between industrial, commercial and household usage.

Cornwall Insight states that smart meters are likely to be a key enabling tool for helping customers to reduce their overall consumption or move it away from times of peak demand.

“Using the half hourly data from smart meters, customers can be rewarded for reducing their use of electricity and gas at certain times, in a way that would not be possible with a traditional meter.”

The report concludes by stating that customers can be pointed to their smart meter in-home display to help them manage their energy costs.