Have you heard of Smart Metering?

IN 2018 the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has given the thumbs up to Smart metering, nationwide, with over 2.5 million customers the intended target. The strategy is still in its early stages of implementation and is hailed as the ‘next generation of electricity’. Phase one will see 250,000 meters installed between 2019 and 2020, while around 500,000 meters will be installed, per year, between 2020 and 2024.

More products are becoming Smart products and technology controlled. Smart lighting, heating, smoke and CO2 Detectors are also readily available and offer many opportunities to the customer from remotely switching off your heating in the home, restaurant or bar when plans change. It’s a more flexible way of using energy.

Smart metering will be rolled out by the ESB Networks but it is very much part of a multi-pronged strategy with oversight from the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment, along with industry contributors and energy suppliers - all of whom are active supporters of the plan. Customers whose meters are nearing the end of their lifecycle will be given priority during the initial instillation stages. In time, it’s felt Smart metering will inculcate a more knowledgeable consumer; one who has greater awareness of energy use and is better equipped to deal with and manage energy efficiency in the home and business.