The UK’s energy providers are falling short in providing energy efficiency initiatives that meet consumer demands and failing to educate on the money-saving benefits of the smart meter rollout. This was the stark message that emerged in a just released study from Navetas Energy Management, a UK-based supplier of energy measurement, management and conservation solutions. The study also found that with the approaches to energy monitoring from various providers varying widely, consumers were hard-pressed to make informed choices when evaluating options designed to in theory reduce their energy consumption.  

The report, “Time for Smarter Thinking”, is follows on research from Navetas that showed:

·         96 percent of UK adults are concerned about energy prices

·         88 percent want to be better educated on their overall energy usage and would value information at an appliance level

This was the context, along with the forthcoming British government’s rollout of 53m smart meters, for  Navetas to look at whether energy providers are meeting consumer demand for energy efficiency initiatives and are doing enough to convince consumers of the benefits of the smart meter rollout.

Key findings

Energy efficiency initiatives

The study said that while the UK energy industry is promoting savings for consumers the products and services offered varied widely. For instance, at the time of the study:

·         British Gas and Southern Electric was promoting energy efficiency.

·         EDF Energy, E.ON (News - Alert) and Scottish Power focused on fixed pricing deals, and npower on services such as boiler care. 

·         Smaller companies Good Energy and Ecotricity focused on renewable energy

·         New entrant Co-operative Energy highlighted pricing promotions.

With 88 percent of consumers saying they would value energy monitoring at an appliance level, the study also looked at the energy monitors currently being offered. The news here was not that promising. Only 50 percent of companies surveyed provide an energy monitoring device.  Creating additional market confusion is the fact that there is no universality in approach. It was note that some:

·         Require plugs

·         Have in-home displays

·         Possess online displays

·         Monitoring at appliance level

·         Only provide top-line energy data 

Smart meters

The UK government may be rolling out smart meters, but the study found that energy providers are not supplying the consuming public with much information about the program and its benefits. In fact, of the “big six” providers, only British Gas put a figure on savings (10 percent) that smart meters could give consumers.

The authors, who admittedly have a horse in this race, said that as part of the survey they called energy provider customer service teams. What they found, “painted a particularly worrying picture, with many agents not knowing when the rollout of smart meters will start or whether consumers would be charged.”  They stated that only agents from British Gas, E.ON and Scottish Power were clear that the consumer would not have to pay for their smart meter and few could cite the key benefits of smart meters outside of accurate billing and automatic meter readings. 

Chris Saunders, CEO at Navetas Energy Management, stated:  

“The UK energy industry is entering a challenging phase, with strict carbon reduction targets, implementation of the smart grid and an £11.7bn smart meter rollout. But for the consumer, saving money is the key concern and energy providers have a lot to do to rebuild their trust following recent high price rises.” He added that:  “Energy providers need to transform these devices from simple displays for consumers, to intelligent energy measurement and management systems in the home that will engage consumers and help them save energy.”

As stated above, Navetas is not a disinterested party in all of this. The company has in trial with several UK providers of its energy disaggregation technology that can accurately measure energy consumption at an appliance-level, from a single point in the home, without the need for additional sensors.

With smart grid deployments projected for robust growth throughout Europe and in the United States, the UK market is certainly one to keep an one on for lessons learned, including mistakes to be avoided. And, while the technology of populating the mass market with smarts at the appliance as well as monitoring level is impressive, the real test is going to be the evolution of the marketing behind the deployments. As scene in comments on various blogs, skepticism already exists as to whether this is just a means for utilities to extract more revenues from consumers or whether adoption we actually see consumers better manage their usage at a time when predictions are for rates to continue to increase. Stay tuned.

Peter Bernstein is a technology industry veteran, having worked in multiple capacities with several of the industry's biggest brands, including Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Telcordia, HP, Siemens, Nortel (News - Alert), France Telecom, and others, and having served on the Advisory Boards of 15 technology startups. To read more of Peter's work, please visit his columnist page.