Comment: Smart meters are a crucial step to a greener future

The energy industry is facing a pivotal moment. As we slowly emerge from an energy crisis and face a cost-of-living crisis, it’s crucial consumers feel supported and understand how they can take control of their energy usage, and in turn save money. 

But that’s not all: the UK is undergoing a green revolution. The energy industry plays a big part in the journey to net zero, and thousands of Brits are backing the investment towards a greener future. A recent survey from the UK government saw a total of 85% of Brits backed renewable energy in general, and 60% of households that don’t already have solar panels are likely to consider installation within the next few years.

But before we think about the bigger picture, it’s important to praise the more recognisable technology many of us are familiar with; a device that’s changed the way consumers track energy usage, and even how suppliers purchase energy. 

The smart meter is one part of the vast development of technology and engineering destined to transform the UK’s outdated energy systems and help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Whilst 68.5% of Brits are likely to purchase a smart home product in the next two years, a smart meter is just one small step we can make into futureproofing our homes and helping consumers.

Measuring and controlling consumption is fundamental in cutting costs for consumers.

It’s simple: if you can see how much energy an appliance uses, you may decide to change your habit in hope of saving money. A recent poll by Smart Energy GB found that over half of Brits with a smart meter said that being able to see their energy use in pounds and pence was the most useful aspect of the in-home display.

Let’s take a dishwasher, for example: you can see how much energy it uses, so you may decide to only use it when it’s completely full and outside of peak hours–and not at random times throughout the day. The smart meter is the gem that provides this information. 

At my company, Octopus Energy, we’ve developed another in-home device that goes even one step further: The Octopus Home Mini. This palm-sized device connects to your smart meter and beams real-time readings from your smart meter to our cloud-based platform, Kraken, so we can provide up-to-the-minute smart insights via our app. Having data from devices like this allows suppliers like us to help customers understand their usage more clearly.

Technology can help energy generation be more efficient, and greener

Technology based devices like these don’t just help the consumer save money and understand their usage. They’re also crucial for energy suppliers to detect movement across the grid. Data from smart meters, for example, allow suppliers’ trading teams to understand how much energy is needed, and how much they should be purchasing. 

Over the years we’ve seen the technology evolve within the energy industry, and go far beyond the smart meter. Right now, the energy grid is not fit for purpose because it was built for a few hundred fossil fuel plants over 100 years ago. Devices like smart meters and the Octopus Home Mini provide efficient data to suppliers and help them measure import and export energy flow and power quality. This is crucial when trying to balance the grid as more people lean toward electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries, or what's also referred to as local generation. 

We need to move to a world where more green technology like electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar panels are connected to the grid and ensure the grid is able to manage power in real time. 

The more green technology, the more savings for consumers

The smart energy industry has excelled in the past few years, and consumers are more engaged and informed about energy than ever before. Homes as we know them won’t look the same in the future. They’re getting smarter, and greener.

However, we’re at a point where great design isn’t enough and we need to continue prioritising technology to advance a cheaper and greener future and help customers save money. Electrification is the way of the future. With batteries, solar power, electric vehicles, and heat pumps, we can drastically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, decarbonise our homes and cut our bills. 

At Octopus, we’ve recently launched Zero Bills Homes, where houses are kitted out with solar panels, a home battery and a heat pump, optimised again via our proprietary cloud based platform Kraken. This mix of advanced technologies means these homes quite literally have no bills: the tech optimises the household’s consumption and energy export in exchange for a zero bill. A net zero future with net zero bills, good for both the planet and the pocket. 

Derya Robinson is Senior Programme Lead at Octopus Energy