Utility Week

Operations & Assets UTILITY WEEK | 26TH APRIL - 2ND MAY 2019 | 21 • The key is to come up with a value proposition. • Consumers are not interested in the technology – they want to know what they can do with it. • Devices must be interoperable. • Data security is a hot issue – consumers must be reassured. • Working in silos limits the benefi ts that can be achieved by using data. Key points to take away "Ofgem and the government have been driving this. The consumer is starting to get the opportunity to do things with their meter." Opportunities for new approaches were also outlined. "It's possible to imagine buying a car with free energy included. Those models are inter- esting challenges for existing providers," said one. Another added: "We need to rip the plaster o• and see true innovation come through." As the meeting wrapped up, suggestions were thrown into the ring for measures to enable network transformation. "The UK trajectory is positive," insisted one attendee. "We are in a revolution in how energy is distributed and consumed. It's like going from BT's ƒ xed network to mobiles. It will get interesting." But others called for more radical, urgent change: "If I had access to all data I could want I still couldn't unlock the value until there was wholesale reform of the energy market. We need it to come quickly or innovators will disappear." Greg Pitcher is a freelance journalist Views from the speakers: Ian Rose, professional services director, Passiv Systems "Trust is only an issue if you are selling trust because you don't have a value proposition. I don't trust Google with my data but I still give them it because they give me a valuable service in return. We need a value proposition to the consumer to change the dynamic." Joshua Cooper, chief executive, Hildebrand "If you have a service that allows you to look at an elderly parent 1,000 miles away and make sure they are ok then I'm interested. I tell my mum to get a smart meter and permit me access to the data. Useful services like this will drive demand for smart meters from consumers." Xiao-Ping Zhang, director of smart grid, University of Birmingham "This is about national infrastructure and we need leadership or we will have a long time discussing it with nothing happening. We need a focused working group to gather opinion and defi ne which data sets are needed and how to get high quality data in order to support the energy transformation." Juliet Davenport, chief executive, Good Energy "One in four of our customers say they don't want smart meters. They don't trust anybody with their data. We need to spend more of our budget on communication about the wider societal benefi ts of smart including our low carbon future." Brought to you in association with Conference call Developing Future Energy Systems is one of the key themes that will be explored at Utility Week's Energy Summit "Delivering a robust future for UK energy in a post-Brexit landscape", in London on 13 June. Download details at https://event.utilityweek.co.uk/ summit/

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