Sorry for asking a still question but what is Esb smart meter programme?
The proposal is that all electricity customers in the Republic - regardless of which supplier they are with - will, over the next 5 years or so, be supplied with a "smart" meter.
This meter will provide a whole heap of functionality that existing meters can not. It will for instance be able to measure your electricity usage every half hour and the intention is to provide customers with an in-house display unit that indicates how much you are using at a given time and how much it's costing.
Suppliers will be able to apply Time Of Day prices so that during the period of peak demand - 5pm to 7pm - the price per unit used during those hours will go up. This, it is hoped, will encourage customers to reduce their usage.
There will be no need for meter readers as the meter will communicate the readings back to base in Dublin electronically. So, no more estimated bills.
The smart meter will also allow for remote disconnection and reconnection thus avoiding the costs involved at present in sending a technician out to the premises. This will definitely encourage early payment as supply can easily be withdrawn for overdue bills.
These are some of the proposed features. There are a few thousand being fitted around the country at present in order to test the communications technology and for assessing if they will, in fact, help to reduce usage. This assessment period will continue until late 2010 and thereafter a study will be done of their overall effectiveness. A decision will then be taken as to way forward.
Regards,
Fnergg