Smart Meter Success Tied to Consumer Engagement

Thursday, 24 February 2011 14:20

A new study by Ovum warns that most ongoing efforts by utilities to gain early customer acceptance of smart meters have been inadequate. The report concludes that unless utilities do better jobs educating consumers about the long-term benefits of smart meters, it’s likely they will fall back on old power consumption habits and entire grid projects could ultimately fail.

The report, by independent technology analyst Datamonitor, Ovum’s parent company, identifies two integral areas of customer engagement: early stage customer acceptance and long-term customer behavioural change.

Stuart Ravens, Ovum principal analyst and lead author of the report, says: “The earliest smart meter deployments are reaching completion and a raft of new deployments are starting. However it is becoming clear that the most important part of the equation – the customer – has not been paid enough attention.”

Ravens also notes, some utilities have provoked a smart meter backlash “by failing to gain initial customer acceptance of smart meters, creating ill-feeling toward the utility and forcing expensive and unnecessary checks on smart meters. But the greatest danger lies in how the customer relationship with smart meters will be affected in the long-term. If consumers do not use the data from smart meters to amend their energy consumption over the long-term, smart meter projects will ultimately fail. The success of long-term customer engagement requires input from regulators, governments and customer advocacy groups, with regulators playing a particularly key role. “

The report also found that regulators are key to establishing an environment where the long-term benefits of smart meters can be realized. Ravens adds: “Without the correct incentives or a regulatory framework, consumers who do not change their consumption habits will increase utilities’ profits, which is a strong incentive for utilities not to drive consumption reduction schemes. Needless to say, this will do little to convince consumers of the benefits of smart meter deployments.”

Ovum provides clients with independent and objective analysis drawn from over 400,000 interviews a year with business and technology, telecoms and sourcing decision-makers.

REQUEST REPORT