Intelligent meter

A intelligent Compteur is a meter having of advanced technologies which identify in a more detailed way and specifies, and possibly in real-time energy consumption of a hearth, a building or a company.

Concept of " Meter intelligent" more often return to the Electric meter, but the term and concept start to be applied to the measurement of consumption of Natural gas and Eau.

Some of these meters can directly communicate with the producer or a manager via a phone network (Télémesure in real-time or with differed reports/ratios), allowing exact and precise invoices in particular, helping the customer to locate the stations which cost him more or which waste the most energy. They can possibly inform it of microcuts or losses on the electrical communication (or of water). But they allow especially productivity gains via the removal of the stations related to the statement of the meters.

They can make it possible to individualize consumption of tenants (hotel).

Some fear restrictions of freedom, certain meters function already with a reader of chip or data-processing chart or credit and make progressively pay the customers of their consumption, even front (right to consume). This method was developed to treat the case of “bad debtors”.

Utility

The progressive deregulation of the electric market and the prices of electricity in the world, as well as the increasing interconnection of the networks encouraged agencies and government organizations of regulation or regulation to seek means better of knowing, of envisaging and of controlling electricity consumption, gas and of water of the inhabitants, a district, an area or a country.

These meters will allow prices more easily differentiated according to the uses or the hours or seasons of use of electricity.
They also aim at encouraging the customers with less consuming at the hours of peaks (surtarification) foreseeable according to the hours of the day and the season. Their promoters hope that the signal-price which will be given in real-time by these meters will contribute to it.

Futurology

Several countries consider their use with large scales for various categories of customers.

Italy

Enel SpA, the main thing producing in Italy considered it among the first for more than 27 million customers, with an installation started in 2000 and which was to be completed in 2005.

These meters with electronic chip and bidirectional communications, of solid design measure the power and are equipped of software capacities of management. They communicate on lines with weak tension with standard standards between the IP local and the waiters of company ENEL. The customer as the supplier can also know the consumption of the meter, remotely, to read information on the use of a meter, to detect a breakdown of service or use a not - authorized electricity… A customer can claim constantly and remotely change his conditions of invoicing, his plan of credit of pre-payment, his flat-rate amount or his tariffs.

In various Enel publications estimated the cost of the project at approximately 2,1 billion euros, for awaited exploitative economies of 500 million euros/an, that is to say a damping in 4 years.

Ireland

This country will launch from here 2012 (as of 2008 in 25 000 hearths) of the intelligent meters (known as " smart meter " (250 euros part) which will help the public to become aware in real-time of its consumption, and which will allow the accountancy of flows of current in the two directions for the hearths equipped with modules Photovoltaïque S or another electric generating station, or Bâtiment to positive energy. These meters will inform the producers in real-time and will allow more detailed invoices for the customers. Ireland also hopes to reduce to the demand for electricity in incentive the households and companies to more electric sobriety. The overcost induced by the installation of these meters is evaluated to 300 d'€ million.

Canada

The Ontario Energy Board (Ontario, Canada) led a project of technology Smart meter and developed a regulation framework for his implementation.
Des intelligent meters must be installed in 800 000 hearths (at the end of 2007) with an objective of 100% of generalization for 2010.

The United States

Other administrations of which in California make active research on these technologies.
Le July 20th, 2006, California approved a programme of improvement of the traditional meters by addition of a processor of electronic communications at 9 million households customers (gas and of electricity). These meters calculate and communicate the time consumption of the household, allowing invoices integrating of the hourly rates differentiated for a better control from the demand for electricity (MDE). The full deployment should take five years.

Turkey

More than 1 million meters with chip and prepayment were installed for gas, water and electricity (with the Elektromed operator).

Australia

In 2004, the ESC “Essential Service Commission” of the State of Victoria, in Australia envisages such meters for 2013 for all the residences and the small companies, with a change of the meters started while starting in 2006.

Other States envisage some too.

Netherlands

The company Oxxio presented its first intelligent gas and electricity meter “ ” to the Netherlands in 2005. In September 2007, the Dutch government proposed that the seven million households of the country has such a meter from here 2013, within the framework of a national plan of energy saving.

Technology

The principal problem of these meters is that of the communication, which must be able to be reliable and automatic or solicited, in a communication network where will circulate permanently of the billion data flowing towards one or some central nodes. According to the cases (urban, rural, zone of activity, zones isolated, etc), one thought of using the antennas relay of the mobile phones, the waves radio, the electric lines or telephone, the solutions Wi-Fi and Internet or the combination of several of these solutions. To date, nobody seems to have an ideal solution.

See too

Internal bonds

Tariffing EDF
Saving energy
Control of energy
Meter

External bonds

in FAQ (CBC, Canada)

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