Npower is to start an 18-month trial of real-time gas and electricity metering technology in 5,000 homes this spring.

Participating customers will receive up-to-the-minute information on their energy use through networked display units and text messaging services.

The aim is to find out how customers will want to use the technology, Npower commercial metering manager Jane Franklin told Computing.

“We are concentrating on customer reaction,” she said. “We will be able to provide information in a number of ways and will be looking at how people want to receive it.”

Options include providing data on specific activities affecting consumption, such as a spike in energy use caused by turning on a power shower, or alerts when use reaches a certain level.

As part of the pilot, smart technology will also be automatically installed in Npower-served premises requiring meter upgrades to ensure a realistic response.
“If a customer knows they are being monitored, they may react differently,” said Franklin.

There have been widespread calls for mandatory rollout of smart meters following the government’s energy white paper in May. But the utilities industry needs to find a commercially sustainable model for the investment, said Franklin.

“The trial will inform the debate about finding a cost-effective solution to implementing universal smart metering,” she said.

The availability of detailed information about energy use will be a reality check for consumers, said Binoy Dharsi, lead analyst for energy and utilities at Datamonitor. “It will be like supermarket price tags for energy,” he said.

It will also mean the end of estimated billing.

“People will get accurate bills for a change, which has long been a bugbear for the industry,” said Dharsi.