Utility Week

4. WHAT: SMART METERS What's the deal: The rollout of smart meters to every UK household and business kicked off in 2012 and there are now almost nine million smart meters in homes and small businesses across the UK. The deadline for comple on of the rollout is 2020. Why it ma ers: The main smart meter value proposi on for consumers is greater visibility of energy use. For suppliers, the benefits will be reduced metering and billing costs and scope for drama c tariff innova on. On the downside, the rollout is a costly and hyper-sensi ve public issue. Already the vic m of technical setbacks, it is at risk of becoming a major PR headache – jeopardising the very customer engagement it should posi vely transform. Nonetheless, smart meters are the first essen al building block of smart grids, allowing network operators to see and control energy flows at a granular level in near real me. As such, they are the founda on of the much- heralded energy system transforma on. 5. WHAT: DATA ANALYTICS What's the deal: U li es are si ng on a goldmine of opportunity with data. More informa on than ever before is flowing from smart meters and other sensors, alongside tradi onal sources of data about opera ons – the informa on is there for the taking. Why it ma ers: The importance of analy cs isn't news for most, who see the poten al to mine data for invaluable insights. Analy cs can help large u li es increase produc vity and save millions in opera ons and maintenance expenditure by helping them improve opera ons, op mise capital deployment and understand procurement be er. It can also help boost reliability by preven ng outages through more accurate predic ons about when to replace failing equipment, or improve outage response through situa onal awareness and be er management of performance. In short, u li es can be er understand customers and their energy and water use through data analy cs – knowledge they can use to design new products and services. The possibili es are huge, but our research indicates u li es have a long way to go to realise this poten al. 6. WHAT: INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) What's the deal: The IoT has far-reaching implica ons for the whole u li es industry. The prolifera on of embedded intelligence within everyday devices and assets – and their ability to interact via the internet – is driving a revolu on in business models, service opportuni es and asset management approaches. Why it ma ers: The IoT is the founda on upon which u li es can build smart home proposi ons. By enabling all manner of discrete devices to communicate with each other, it has already enabled a step change in the way industrial assets are monitored and maintained. As the number of connected devices grows, opportuni es for new customer services and opera onal efficiencies are likely to emerge. In the home, smart thermostats and water monitors, connected directly to u li es IT systems, could be leveraged for consump on monitoring, safety and leakage alerts and efficiency advice services. Out in the field, many u li es have only scratched the surface of IoT-enabled predic ve asset management, which can reduce costs associated with deploying engineers on the road and increase the overall life of expensive assets. In the shadow of major price reviews for both water and energy networks, the scope for linking IoT informa on more proac vely with investment planning should not be overlooked. Say what? "U li es assets and the IoT are a match made in heaven." - Survey respondent Smart meters are essential building blocks of smart grids I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH MARCH 2018 | 13 I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H

• Cover