Utility Week

40 | OCTOBER 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Analysis Analysis the sector. In the workshop, Ovo Energy's head of smart metering, Joe Mills, voiced a similar concern. "There's a lot of apathy in the energy sector. A third of customers, for example, haven't ever switched supplier, and they can generally do that for a savings of around £250 a year." The key, Patel believes, is communicating to customers how the net zero agenda will change their daily habits and their house- hold micro-economy, as each consumer will perceive it differently. For some, the opportu- nity to cut bills by accessing preferential tar- iffs will take precedence, for others the driver could be tapping into community-generated energy. "O‡en, customers don't actually under- stand "'what's in it for me'… These things aren't necessarily shared with the customer, or provided at the right level so that custom- ers can actively participate in the conversa- tion, even down to the language used to communicate basic information about smart meters." At engineering contractor Stantec, Craw- ford suggested that the language used to describe the devices and their purpose is key and should be calibrated to particular communities. "For one company, we made a conscious decision not to use the word 'smart', because the perception was their customers didn't appreciate it, but a 'digital meter' went down really well. At another company custom- ers didn't like 'smart' or 'digital' or even the word 'meter'. So there, we said it was being used as a sensor or leak device. Again, they were quite happy with that." Talking your language Precisely because there is a deficit in con- sumer understanding of the technology – around different tariffs, or maximising green electricity – Patel argues that companies engaged in the smart meter rollout will need to invest in call centres, online chat facilities and other communication tools to build a "net zero ready" consumer population. At Capita, Patel warned that customer engagement in the smart meter rollout isn't a given. For many, previously promised sav- ings have not materialised, while for others the pursuit of "net zero" is either not under- stood or is such a vague concept that it is dif- ficult to relate to. A recent survey she described illustrated the problem: while the Covid era and general awareness of the forthcoming COP26 confer- ence has built better awareness of net zero, there was little of substance underneath when the survey results were analysed. "Over 2020, awareness of what net zero is has increased by 46 per cent, which is great. But when you ask them how much do you actually know, still 47 per cent said 'Actu- ally, I don't know that much', all the way through to 'Actually, I don't know anything'. So education is key to them being part of the conversation." Other participants raised the discon- nect between the renewable energy agenda and customers' lived experience. At Manx Utilities on the Isle of Man, where the smart meter rollout is just beginning, stakeholder engagement manager Sarah Jarvis felt that talk of a "joined-up" response lacked substance. "Customers talk, as everybody does, about climate change, but I can't see any- thing happening. From the shores of the Isle of Man, as I look towards Cumbria, there's a huge wind farm there, but we haven't got any access to it." To deal with hesitance around "data shar- ing", Patel recommends emphasising that it isn't about divulging personal information to a profit-sucking private enterprise, but another aspect of the "sharing economy". In other words, pooling data can boost market transparency or demonstrate a demand for a new service that helps to make it viable. "With education and understanding will come the willingness to participate and share data on a more granular level," she said. "But if we explain that giving us that half-hourly information could mean getting to use energy for free [when there are high levels of renewables on the network] … Being transparent on what the information could be used for will also be key." From the Data Communications Company The DCC is migrating millions of not-so- smart SMETS1 meters and installing dual band communication hubs to create a new network ecosystem. DCC innovation director Chris Barlow explained that the resulting network could play a key underpinning role in net zero. "We're going to hit 53 million smart meters and over 30 million homes and businesses when we get to scale, and our reach will cover 99.3 per cent of Great Britain." Barlow predicts that the ready-made network integrating millions of properties, including blocks that previously had lim- ited coverage, could be used by others in the future, suggesting that household names such as Amazon, Apple or Samsung could develop services linked to home energy, home charging or home heating. "This network of smart devices … gives us a great platform for innovation. We won't be the people developing new products and ser- vices, that's not what we're interested in, but continued from previous page The cost of installing and maintaining water meters is holding back deployment

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