The UK government’s plans to rollout smart meters to the entire country by 2019 could net savings of £14 billion, according to a report from British Gas and Oxford Economics.
The report, The Value of Smart Metering to Great Britain, compares the costs of rolling out smart meters to every home and business in the country – which are widely touted as £11.5 billion – with the potential benefits of smart meters.
According to the analysis, those benefits could amount to £25.3 billion – an overall saving to the country of £14 billion, which works out at around £65 on an average household bill.
The savings will be made up of an estimated £11.2 billion from consumer energy savings, as householders and businesses use less energy as their understanding of their consumption improves.
Energy suppliers will also net savings amounting to £10.7 billion, which could also be passed onto consumers in additional reductions on bills.
Lower consumer demand will also bring savings of £3.2 billion from the energy generation sector.
“The facts are plain; smart meters will help people save energy putting money in their back pocket,” says Dean Keeling, managing director of British Gas’ smart homes division. “They are fundamentally changing how we use energy, bringing billions of pounds worth of benefits to Britain.”
Andrew Tessler, senior economist at Oxford Economics, adds that the rollout of smart meters will also make it easier and quicker for consumers to switch suppliers, which is being touted by the government as one of the key ways to save money on energy bills.
For further information:
www.centrica.com/
www.britishgas.co.uk/
www.oef.com/
Related stories:
ScottishPower, SmartReach and Siemens launch UK smart meter trial (18-Jul)
Intel to turn London into smart technology test bed (28-May)
Honeywell and SSE rollout Thames Valley smart grid project (25-Jan)
UK smart meter rollout to start in less than three years, says government (5-Apr)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5385/
