Smart meter plans for business electricity customers may be put on hold

29/01/2010

Plans for all business electricity suppliers to offer smart energy meters by the end of 2020 may be thwarted by concerns over data security.

Energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt revealed at the end of 2009 that £6 million would be invested to develop smart technology meters, designed to reduce energy bills and increase energy efficiency.

However, the proposals seem unlikely to go ahead unless government officials are able to convince the public that the new system is capable of securely sharing information.

A similar smart meter project in the Netherlands has effectively been put on hold following concerns that data could be captured by criminals or used by police and insurance companies without permission from the consumer.

Dutch privacy groups and consumer advocates claim that by 'information gathering' every 15 minutes, smart meters paint an accurate picture of when a property is empty or when new gadgets have been plugged in.
According to Datamonitor, those fears could also be translated to the UK.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said data protection and system security were "crucial " for smart meter implementation, adding that "a rigorous and systematic approach" would be taken to assess any issues.
Posted by Tom Barnett