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NETWORK / 8 / SEPTEMBER 2016 SMART METERING Q: As a result of the smart meter rollout, will the volume of callouts change at all? Q: Do you have enough qualifi ed staff to handle increased callouts arising from the smart meter rollout in a timely manner? 58% 33% 8% Yes, the volume will decrease No, the volume will stay broadly the same Yes, the volume will increase 46% 46% 8% No Yes Unknown at this point Impact expected by network operators of smart meter rollout on callout rates and staff capacity Source: Utility Week Transforming Relationship Study April/May 2016 Source: Electralink Actual installs Forecast requirements Poly (actual installs) 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 2015 2017 2019 2021 T he wait for the dawn of the digital age of the energy industry has seemed endless. Around 53 million smart meters will be installed by energy suppliers at homes and small businesses in the UK by 2020, opening up a world of consumption data, time-of-use tari• s and a whole new market of smart home products. Energy suppliers have been installing smart meters for some time but have been waiting on the completion of the Data and Communications Company (DCC) network to ramp up the installation rate and make real headway against the overall target. DCC managing director Jonathan Simcock was less than reassuring when speaking to Utility Week back in January, saying he could not guarantee that deadline would be hit. For the past year all eyes have been focused on the DCC as it has battled to make that critical deadline. The rollout go- live date has been highlighted by industry professionals in an exclusive report, produced by Utility Week in association with WNS, in July as the highest risk factor to timely delivery of the programme to the 2020 deadline. It is a deadline most in the industry consider not just tight but unachievable. The go-live date has slipped several times already, the latest being from August to the end of September, although this is still within the six-months contingency given to the start date. The DCC is currently consulting with industry on the appropriateness of this new deadline and it should be put to the secretary of state for the newly created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shortly. But meeting this initial deadline is not the only hurdle the programme needs to overcome. The smart meter speci‹ cation has yet to be decided, as has the method for incorporating foundation meters into the DCC, both potentially serious challenges to the programme. From October the rollout should move into the practical installation stage, and this will come with its own set of complications. Network operators, reliant on suppliers to lead the rollout, have expressed a range of concerns over installation. Each installation, given a customer is willing to accept a meter in the ‹ rst place, runs the risk of failure for multiple reasons which will require the involvement of the local DNO. At the same time, both suppliers and DNOs must start positioning themselves to take full advantage of the deluge of consumption data in order to enhance customer service, and in the case of DNOs aid the transition to smart grids. 200,000 100,000 0 2013 Smart meter installs: actual and forecast requirements 2021