SWECO TO STUDY HOURLY READING OF ELECTRICITY METERS

For the past year, all electricity customers in Sweden have the right to monthly reading of their electricity meters. Now it may be time to go one step further. The Energy Markets Inspectorate has been commissioned to explore the opportunities for hourly metering – a study in which the inspectorate has turned to Sweco’s energy experts for assistance.

“We are very pleased to have won the contract, which is naturally a major acknowledgement of Sweco’s expertise in the Swedish and Nordic electricity market. Experience from other countries shows that hourly metering has excellent results since the customers can more easily monitor and reduce their own consumption,” says Eva Nygren, President of Sweco Sweden. Sweco and the Energy Markets Inspectorate will study the extent to which the existing technical solutions can handle hourly meter reading and what upgrades may be necessary. Together with the client and an external reference group, the relevant costs and socioeconomic benefits will then be identified. The results of Sweco’s assignment will be ready during the summer. Facts: • As of 1 July 2009, all electricity customers will be billed monthly on the basis of actual meter values in accordance with a decision by the Swedish parliament. • Sweden’s electricity distributors have chosen to meet this requirement by investing in different types of technical systems for automatic meter reading (AMR). These systems have different levels of performance and therefore also varying capacity to meet new requirements for hourly metering and reporting. • Several other countries have chosen to demand more frequent metering than in Sweden and have already decided on requirements for hourly metering and reporting. This has been done with the insight that energy conservation measures are encouraged if the customers have access to this information.