Real Time Displays… or Delays?
This article was written by Jonathan Porritt
“I sometimes wonder if BERR is a Department with a death wish - the death in question being its reputation when it comes to addressing climate change, fuel poverty, energy efficiency and other key sustainability issues. There’s some kind of fundamental perversity in the way it sets about dealing with these issues that it is almost impossible to account for. Even in the small things - like smart meters and real time displays (RTDs).
In both Energy White Paper and in its Climate Change Programme Report to Parliament, the Government unambiguously pledged that it would mandate all energy supply companies to provide RTDs for electricity to any customer who asked for one. The policy was expected to result in around 2.5 million customers asking for an RTD, at a cost of around £37 million. Available evidence suggests that energy savings of between 5% to 15% could be achieved by customers who acquire an RTD, especially as these are likely to be the most energy-conscious consumers.
Indeed, the Climate Change Programme confidently identified savings of 0.2 MtC to come from “improved billing and metering by 2010″. But there’s no other policy in place to achieve this apart from the “free RTD on request” policy.
All clear so far. But this is where it starts to go wrong. BERR is now seeking to weaken the RTD commitment to one where supply companies would not be required to send consumers an RTD on request. BERR now favours a roll-out of what are known as ‘smart meters’.
Smart meters do a lot more than RTDs. They could, potentially, give suppliers or consumers a greater choice of tariffs, accurate monthly bills, and much more useful real time information for gas as well as electricity. So the Sustainable Development Commission fully supports the Government’s desire to get smart meters into all households, as a necessary step to the development of a number of carbon-saving measures.
However, there will inevitably be serious delays in putting that policy into practice (a roll-out could take up to 10 years before the majority of households received a smart meter, at a cost of several billions), delays which will undermine enthusiastic customers from better understanding their energy demand.
This is a typical lack of confidence. So our message to BERR is a simple one: this is not an either or situation. We need RTDs now, and smart meters over the next few years. Don’t give in to energy supply companies by going back on your commitment to compel them to provide RTDs. Stick to your guns. Get it right - for once.”
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opinion
Peak Oil & Climate Change have become SEPs.
(An SEP is Someone Else’s Problem - see Douglas Adams and the ‘Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ series). (more at “Peak Civilisation” )
When people can see how CO2, fuels, energy, water and other key factors personally affect them, behaviours will change.
Real Time Displays are the way forward. If we do not have this information, we will be told by the media in over-dramatising ways that most people complain about for a day or two and then ignore. So it becomes an SEP.
Peak Oil and Climate Change have been identified for several decades now. The problem facing ALL Governments is how to grasp the nettle and co-ordinate unpopular behaviour change. Research shows that most people prefer to know the bad news up front, and then prepare to cope. Panic and conflict only ensue in the absence of information, plans and controlled response.
Providing good information is a priority: this is a relevant strategy and implementation is urgent. Give the people the power to be Energy Efficient.
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