From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers · From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers by SmartRegions – Promoting best practices in innovative smart metering services to the European regions

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From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers

by SmartRegions – Promoting best practices in innovative smart metering services to the European regions

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Authors of the publication

Tytti Laitinen, Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd, Finland

Lauri Penttinen, Central Finland Energy Agency, Finland

Hanne Sæle, SINTEF Energi AS, Norway

Alastair Scott, EnCT GmbH, Germany

Roland Hierzinger, Austrian Energy Agency, Austria

Henk van Elburg, NL Agency, Netherlands

Karolina Loth-Babut, Polish National Energy Conservation Agency, Poland

Tadeusz Skoczkowski, Warsaw University of Technology

Adriana Milandru and Madalina Anastasiu, Institute for Studies and Power Engineering, Romania

Mihaela Albu and Adela Vintea, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania

Francisco Puente, Escan, s.l., Spain

Published in 2013Layout: Pirjo LeirimaaPicture on the cover page: Landis + Gyr

SmartRegions has been supported by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

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Authors of the publication

Tytti Laitinen, Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd, Finland

Lauri Penttinen, Central Finland Energy Agency, Finland

Hanne Sæle, SINTEF Energi AS, Norway

Alastair Scott, EnCT GmbH, Germany

Roland Hierzinger, Austrian Energy Agency, Austria

Henk van Elburg, NL Agency, Netherlands

Karolina Loth-Babut, Polish National Energy Conservation Agency, Poland

Tadeusz Skoczkowski, Warsaw University of Technology

Adriana Milandru and Madalina Anastasiu, Institute for Studies and Power Engineering, Romania

Mihaela Albu and Adela Vintea, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania

Francisco Puente, Escan, s.l., Spain

Table of Contents

Preface ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Executive summary ................................................................................................................... 5

1. European Smart Metering Landscape report: the SmartRegions ‘crown jewel’ .................... 7

2. National wide political interaction in the SmartRegions framework ..................................... 9

3. SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool – to support decision-making .................... 11 EXAMPLE: Case study for a Spanish city with 100 000 meters .......................................... 13

4. Roadmaps for innovative smart metering services ............................................................. 14 EXAMPLE: Impact of the roadmap in Poland .................................................................... 15

5. Promoting best practices in project regions ...................................................................... 16 EXAMPLE: Energy cottage pilot at Himos holiday resort in Finland .................................... 18 EXAMPLE: Social Metering App by GreenPocket ............................................................... 19 EXAMPLE: First pilot in Spain shows consumers how to obtain benefit from their smart meters ................................................................................................... 20

6. Development of energy reporting systems by using the results of customer surveys .......... 22 EXAMPLE: Smart metering – The effect of feedback systems on energy behaviour ............ 23 EXAMPLE: Energy efficiency due to in-home displays ........................................................ 24

7. Co-operation and dissemination ...................................................................................... 26

8. Conclusions from the SmartRegions project ..................................................................... 29

Comments made by external agencies .................................................................................... 31

EACI contact person and SmartRegions partners ..................................................................... 33

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Preface

Smart metering technology has a great potential to achieve cost-efficient energy savings, and its effective use is crucial in achieving the 2016 and 2020 energy efficiency targets in Europe. Moreover, smart meters play an important role in smart grids and reaching the EU 20% renewable energy source target by 2020. However, smart meters themselves are only enabling technologies, which need to be coupled with innovative end-user services to achieve better energy management through the means of rewards, automation and information.

The task of the SmartRegions project was to promote the uptake of innovative smart metering services such as informative billing and feedback, variable tariffs and demand response services that have the most potential to bring about energy savings and peak load reduction. In this, the project has inspired and encouraged energy utilities, other key market actors as well as decision makers across Europe to promote the development of these new services and to utilize the full potential of the new metering technology.

The project activities have included:• Monitoring the smart metering landscape in European countries, and providing

recommendations for the policy and regulatory frameworks to promote smart metering services;

• Defining the best practices in innovative smart metering services and creating a tool to analyze economic, environmental and social costs and benefits;

• Promoting the best practices in innovative smart metering services in the project regions and by promoting exemplary smart metering services as models for other Member States and regions.

The SmartRegions project has been coordinated by Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd. from Finland. The other participating countries have been Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Austria, Romania and Spain. In total there were 10 beneficiaries from 8 European countries. In both Finland and Romania two beneficiaries were involved.

The SmartRegions – Promoting best practices in innovative smart metering services to the European regions project was co-financed by the Intelligent Energy – Europe programme of the European Commission and implemented during the period 5/2010-5/2013.

June 6, 2013

The Authors

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Executive summary

Smart metering stands out as a truly transformative new technology to improve energy metering and billing systems and to enable better awareness for energy end-users. Smart meters have a great potential to achieve cost-efficient energy savings and play a crucial role in achieving the 2016 and 2020 energy saving targets. However, smart meters themselves are only enabling technologies, which need to be coupled with innovative services to achieve better energy management through the means of rewards, automation and information. In order to ensure the success of the smart metering services market the achievement of simultaneous benefit for the energy supplier and the consumer is required.

The task of the SmartRegions project was to promote a wide uptake of innovative smart metering services such as informative billing and feedback, variable tariffs and load control services that have most potential to bring energy savings, peak load reduction and the integration of renewable energy. In this, the project has inspired and encouraged energy utilities, other key market actors as well as decision makers across Europe to promote the development of these new services and to utilize the full potential of the new metering technology.

Monitoring the European Smart Metering Landscape and providing recommendations to support policy development on new smart metering services

The European Smart Metering Landscape report was created by monitoring and analyzing the development of smart metering roll-out programs and services for energy end-users. The report consists of in-depth country profiles of all EU Member States and Norway, and case studies of related services for energy consumption feedback and demand response. The Landscape Report has been published twice, in February 2011 and in October 2012 (updated 5/2013). The reports have been the single most successful deliverable in the SmartRegions project, receiving wide interest and positive feedback from market actors and policy makers, as well as from the R&D sector.

Based on the knowledge gathered from the Landscape Report and other project outcomes, the Recommen-

dations for Best Regulatory Framework for Smart Metering Services have been defined and published. The report provides recommendations for a regulatory framework to implement ESD Article 13 and to generate a wide uptake of innovative smart metering services. The recommendations report has been disseminated to national parliament members and responsible authorities across Europe.

SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool – to support decision-making

The SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool was created to support decision makers, energy utilities and other relevant target groups assessing the costs and benefits related to smart meter deployment and improved energy services. The tool calculates the costs and benefits for the main actors involved in metering deployment and energy services as well as customers, and also the socio-economic impacts related to improved energy efficiency, demand response and reduction in CO

2 emissions from optimized power production. The Excel-based tool consists of two versions: the simplified version focuses only on electricity meters and has been translated into 8 European languages, while the extended version also includes electricity, gas, heat and water meters and is available only in English. All the different versions of the Cost-benefit-sustainability tool are downloadable from the project website (www.smartregions.net).

The SmartRegions tool has been downloaded ~2440 times (total for all versions). Additionally the tool has been demonstrated enthusiastically by national decision makers, national energy companies, network operators, meter and service suppliers and telecommunications companies. Its results have been compared with other existing cost-benefit studies with the conclusion that the tool’s general outputs coincide with them.

Roadmaps for innovative smart metering services

For the SmartRegions project countries Romania and Poland, where smart metering regulation and technology were less well developed and defined, roadmaps were created to advance the development

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of smart metering and related new services. The roadmaps were used in the frame of the EU’s 3rd Electricity and Gas legislative package for developing and implementing new smart metering services in the respective countries. The responsible regulators and decision-makers as well as market actors were involved in the process of developing these roadmaps.

Defining the best practices in innovative Smart Metering Services

Smart metering technologies enable a wide variety of new and innovative reporting, feedback and demand response services designed to provide the end-user with the motivation and means for more efficient energy use. To display the state-of-the-art new smart metering based end-user services, best practices have been defined for residential, public and commercial buildings. In total 27 best practices have been identified and published with brochures and a Google map application on the project’s website. The best practices were gathered from the EU27 and Norway, covering electricity, heat, gas and water, and based on pilots and commercial implementations.

Promoting the best practices in innovative Smart Metering Services in the project regions

One of the most important goals of the project was to cooperate closely with utilities and other key market actors in the project regions to advance the market development of new and innovative smart metering ser-vices to energy end-users. This has been achieved by engaging and offering direct support to the key actors through creating pilots and other effective market development activities in the project regions. As a result, a number of pilots and other joint development activities were created with utilities and companies to develop innovative new smart metering based services.

The overall target of the project – boosting market development - has been exceeded, resulting in the provision of new and improved smart metering based services to over 10.000 households and public/commercial buildings.

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1. European Smart Metering Landscape report: the SmartRegions ‘crown jewel’

Due to EU legislation such as the Energy Services Directive and the 3rd Energy Package a majority of the countries in Europe already have or are about to implement some form of legal framework for the installation of smart meters. The introduction of Smart Meters is progressing throughout Europe and is on the energy policy agenda in most EU countries. The topic continues to generate heated discussion and has different dynamics in the individual EU member states. The European Smart Metering Landscape report analyses the development of smart metering and metering services in Europe. It consists of updated in-depth country profiles of all EU Member States and Norway and case studies of related services for customer feedback and peakload shifting. The SmartRegions project has published the European Landscape Report twice during the project period. The first Landscape Report was published in February 2011 and the second report in October 2012 (updated 5/2013).

The European Smart Metering Landscape Report answers the following questions: • Which EU legislation drives the implementation

of smart metering in Europe? • What is going on in the EU Member States

regarding the introduction of smart meters? • Which countries are leading the way and which

solutions for smart metering have they chosen? • What are the roll-out strategies of the leading

utilities in different countries? • What kinds of information and feedback services

are being offered and trialled in Europe? • Have trials involving dynamic pricing and time-of-

use tariffs in the Nordic countries had any effects on peakload demand?

• Which direct load control programmes have been trialled in Europe?

The Landscape Report 2012 depicts the Smart Meter development in each country using a common method-ology and displays the different speeds with respect to the Smart Meter topic. These different speeds and approaches in the Member States are represented through the classification in the following categories:

dynamic movers, market drivers, ambitious movers, waverers, laggards.

Countries such as Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK, Spain and Sweden are “dynamic movers”. Most of them have already decided on a mandatory rollout with a specified timetable. “Market drivers” such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Denmark have not established legal requirements for a full roll-out. There are obligations to introduce smart meters only for a certain category of customers, e.g. in newly built houses and renovated houses. Nevertheless utilities are going ahead with the installation of smart meters either because of internal synergetic effects or customer demands. The situation in Austria and Poland can be characterized as ambiguous. Although significant progress is visible, some important decisions are still missing. In the countries dubbed as “waverers” the first initiatives and pilot projects for the introduction of smart meters have been launched. In the “laggards” countries smart metering is not yet an issue.

For the Landscape Report 2012 the clustering has been performed using a modified methodology. The fol-lowing illustration provides an overview of the legal and regulatory situation and the implementation status in the EU countries and Norway. The assessment of each country takes into account the legal framework, roll-out plans and the number of existing smart meters and their functionalities.

Although the methodology has been modified, the overall picture has remained almost unchanged since 2011. Progress was greatest in those countries with a significant regulatory push (dynamic movers). For the most part they have already defined mandatory roll-out plans and clarified the minimum functional requirements for smart meters. The analysis of smart metering services has shown that the markets for these services are emerging slowly. However, a lot of new insights are available about customer needs and customer satisfaction from the multitude of pilot projects carried out throughout Europe.

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The metering infrastructure is only an enabling technology and needs to be coupled with innovative services in order to increase energy efficiency by means of rewards, automation and information. Information and feedback tools using smart meter data, such as displays or energy reporting via internet mobile devices, are already available. A number of utilities test and operate demand response and direct load control programmes in order to limit and shift the power peak load. The Landscape Report 2012 gives an actual description of these real-life implementations and trials of innovative end-user services that have either been completed or are in progress.

Only through smart services will smart meters provide added value to the customer. This added-value is re-quired to gain customers’ support and engagement

in energy efficiency and demand response activities. This support is particularly important because the real advantages of smart metering will and must be compared to the related costs that will be borne by customers.

The European Smart Metering Landscape report has been the most successful deliverable in the SmartRegions project. The consortium has received extremely positive feedback about the report. It has been observed that the Landscape report has been referred to in various documents (example: JRC (2011). Smart Grid projects in Europe: lessons learned and current developments. Petten, The Netherlands, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy).

An overview of the legal and regulatory situation and the implementation status in the EU countries and Norway. The assessment of each country takes into account the legal framework, roll-out plans and the number of existing smart meters and their functionalities.

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2. National wide political interaction in the SmartRegions framework

The SmartRegions project has published a report called Recommendations for Best Regulatory Framework for Smart Metering Services which provides recommendations for a regulatory framework to implement Article 13 of the ESD and to generate a wide uptake of innovative smart metering services. Article 13(1) of the ESD demands that Member States ensure that final customers are provided with competitively priced individual meters that accurately reflect consumption and provide information on the actual time of use. Additionally, with this report the SmartRegions project has expressed its suggestions on issues concerning the take-off of demand response and energy efficiency.

The recommendations cover the whole range of relevant issues:

• Customer information - Instantaneous access to the information - Timely information (meter readings) - Accessibility of information (communication

channels) - Customization and design of information• Data format recommendations• Interoperability recommendations• Billing recommendations• Recommendations for use and ownership of data• Recommendations for minimum requirements• Dynamic tariffs recommendations• Privacy recommendations - customer control of metering data - minimisation of data retention - privacy impact assessment and privacy certification• Security recommendations - establish protection profiles - certification - security dialogue

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Essential factors for the development of innovative services

All recommendations can provide beneficial framework conditions for the development of innovative services. But there are some fundamental conditions for the deployment of the energy saving potential of smart metering. These conditions are:

• National smart metering regulation may either focus on certain services (e.g. the provision of a monthly bill) or on minimum functional requirements. The recommendation was to use the latter approach and define the minimum requirements of a smart metering system, taking into account how the system supports energy efficiency and demand response services to be developed and offered to customers. This ensures a system which will be capable of providing data for services that have not yet been defined and are not yet offered on a commercial basis.

• Smart metering has the potential to have a profound impact on privacy. Customers may benefit from additional metering services. However, in order to ensure trust in the energy utility and the service provider, customers must always stay in control of the consumption data. As a consequence, both the frequency of meter readings and the level of aggregation of data must stay under the control of the customers. Smart metering can pose considerable challenges to privacy and data protection. Therefore, the least intrusive options are in principle to be preferred.

• Smart meters should be equipped with, or connected to, an open gateway or a standardised interface to guarantee maximum interoperability. The customer and service

provider/s (energy service companies, etc.) chosen and authorized by the customer should have access to this gateway. This approach would not give the DSO a privileged position compared to other service providers. The gateway should have a standardised interface to enable energy management solutions, such as home automation, different schemes on demand response and facilitate delivery of data directly, etc. This also allows the customer to react to price signals and adapt consumption. Open standardised interfaces which enable interoperability of two-way communications are necessary in order not to hinder any stakeholder wanting to connect a device to the gateway/meter.

• An energy system based on data from smart metering must be robust, safe and secure. Its architecture should allow for evolutionary growth, and support future services that currently cannot be foreseen. A secure grid should include core functionalities such as uninterrupted service, black start capability and few dependencies on other critical infrastructures. The less critical processes of energy supply should not endanger the more critical ones. Failures within parts of the smart metering infrastructure including the ICT networks used must not lead to blackouts or impair other processes more critical for electricity delivery more than is unavoidable.

It can be very harmful to neglect the interests of Consumer Associations and Privacy Protection Associations. For the roll-out of smart meters the involvement of these stakeholder groups is very important.

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3. SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool – to support decision-making

The SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool was created to support decision makers, energy utilities and other relevant target groups in their assessment of costs and benefits related to smart meter deployment and improved energy services. The main features of this Excel tool are based on the cost/benefit tool developed in the ESMA project1, modified and adapted to the objectives of the SmartRegions project. The objective of the tool is to estimate the economic, social and environmental benefits related to installation of smart meters for electricity and new smart metering services for the different energy carriers.

It should be considered that the relevance of the results is very dependent on the accuracy of the input data, which might produce big differences among the different situations and countries, and also that the cost of installing smart meters themselves involves benefits for DSOs, suppliers and consumers. The tool also presents a good opportunity to analyze the sensitivity of variations in specific parameters (e.g. the number of years to complete the roll-out of smart meters, meter and concentrator investment costs, etc.) which can assist decision making.

1 http://www.eaci-projects.eu/iee/page/Page.jsp?op=project_detail&prid=1564

An illustration of the input, calculations and results from the SmartRegions tool.

Input meters• Market numbers• Cost data• New business variables• Energy consumption• Energy market tariffs• System figures

Input services• Consumption• Market price• Structure of service• CO2 emission

Calculations of cost / benefit

Cost / benefit Technology

+ Cost / benefit Energy services

=

Results EconomicAnnual spend on metersAnnual energy consumptionAnnual meter reading costsMeter installation costsAnnual cost of billing complaints and switchingAnnual cost of energy fraudAnnual stranded meter cost

SocialAnnual employment

EnvironmentalAnnual CO2 emissionAnnual customer saving

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The Cost-benefit-sustainability tool meets the following objectives. It should:

• Provide a list of the major benefits and costs associated with smart metering

• Allow different implementation scenarios to be examined so that the financial implication of dif-ferent options could be examined (smart meters with and without real-time displays)

• Identify reasonable input values that could be used in smart metering cost benefit analyses

• Provide a means to identify the interplay of costs and benefits between stakeholders depending on which benefits are included and how the different energy markets are organized

• Include environmental and social costs and benefits in the evaluation of smart metering systems

• Evaluate the effects of different categories of smart metering energy services – according to certain predefined parameters

The simplified version (SmartRegions Tool) focuses solely on electricity meters, and the extended version includes calculations related to electricity gas, heat and water meters. The simplified tool has been translated into eight European languages and includes default values (input data) for the nine countries participating in the SmartRegions project. The extended version of the tool is available only in English. All the different versions of the Cost-benefit-sustainability tool are downloadable from the project website (www.smartregions.net).

The following services are implemented in the SmartRegions tool:

• Indirect feedback (IF) – Customers receive information about their usage from their bills or other feedback mechanisms. The information is historical.

• Direct feedback (DF) – Customers are provided with a real or near real time feedback display in addition to more informative bills.

• Time-of-Day Day and Night Tariff (ToDDN) – A tariff with a peak price period during the day and a lower price period during the night.

• Real Time Pricing (RTP) – Hourly market price of the energy.

• Balancing Services / Direct load control (BS) – Remote load control for disconnection of con-sumption in certain specified hours.

The benefits calculated from the different services are:

• Reduced energy consumption (kWh/year) (Environmental criteria)

• Reduced CO2 emission (tonneCO2/year) (Environmental criteria)

• Reduced cost for the customer(s) (Euros/year) (Economic criteria – due to reduced costs/Social criteria – Implications on standard of living)

• Reduced cost for the customer(s) (Euros/year) (Economic criteria – due to reduced costs/Social criteria – Implications on standard of living)

The tool calculates the cost/benefit based on a number of input variables, independent of the actual country of application. This makes it a tool applicable throughout Europe with the possibility to perform calculations for different countries by changing the input variables.

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EXAMPLE: Case study for a Spanish city with 100 000 meters

Use of the SmartRegions Cost-benefit-sustainability tool is illustrated with a case from Spain, where the implementation of electric energy smart meters and energy efficiency associated services is considered for a city with 100 000 meters and an average yearly consumption of 3 800 kWh/household. The other parameters are eight years for the complete roll-out of all meters and 20 years as the maximum service life for a smart meter.

For a 30 year model the need for periodical investments for the smart meters installation and the subsequent renovation is taken into account. Considering the electronic meters’ average service life, it will be necessary to start a new implementation period every 15-20 years.

Implementation of smart meters and energy services would provide benefits to consumers (householders) by reducing their bills, improving their energy efficiency, decreasing CO2 emissions and gaining additional social benefits as a consequence of the expansion of smart meters and all the related systems and services.

Nevertheless, it should be stated that further energy savings could be reached both if clear information and indications are provided and market segmentation is considered.

Furthermore, this will produce benefits in the long term for the stakeholders involved. Energy suppliers will obtain more benefits from the innovative services on offer and distributors will improve grid management and reduce their costs. Other market actors such as equipment manufacturers, communications companies and software and hardware providers will benefit from smart meters and services projects due to an increase in their business. Public institutions, regulatory bodies and network operators will gain knowledge of energy balances or real electric energy consumption for the residential sector.

However, initially and according to the results, the benefits for distribution companies will be low due to the initial investment needed for massive replacement of meters. Using the NPV (Net Present Value) for different years, the following economic values are obtained:

Overall Stakeholder benefits – Smart meters without display

Year to review NPV 10 20 30Energy supplier 24.200.000 81.800.000 176.000.000Distribution system operator -1.050.000 7.440.000 19.500.000Customers 26.400.000 88.700.000 191.000.000Total 49.600.000 178.000.000 3.860.000.000

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4. Roadmaps for innovative smart metering services

For project regions of Romania and Poland where smart metering regulation and technology are less well developed and defined, roadmaps for innovative smart metering services were created to advance the development of smart metering and related services. The roadmaps were used in the frame of the EU’s 3rd Electricity and Gas legislative package for developing and implementing new smart metering services in the respective countries. The responsible regulators and decision-makers as well as market actors were involved in the process of developing these roadmaps.

The roadmap template for innovative smart services which was prepared first is universal and flexible in the sense that it is not country-oriented and can be used at all stages of smart metering services development. However, it was designed in such a way that regions less well developed in smart servicing may benefit most as they can go through the whole process covered in the roadmap. First it enables the formulation of a long-term vision for smart metering services development and then provides guidance on how to consequently implement the plan with sufficiently strong feedback to correct and modify the planned activities in accordance with changing surroundings e.g. political support, legislation and regulation changes or technological advances.

The main objectives in the preparation of the roadmaps were:

• To create a coherent and clear planning document e.g. a roadmap on how to organize the process of smart services development at national level in order to make it effective, organizationally and technically feasible and economically viable.

• To build on existing knowledge and experience of smart metering services in the leading countries to invigorate and accelerate similar processes in less advanced regions in order to avoid mistakes stemming from the lack of co-ordination between various actions undertaken by individual stakeholders that had led in some countries to ineffectiveness and unnecessary economic losses.

• To communicate the roadmap to the existing

organizations and networks of the main stakeholders and to make them actively involved in smart metering services co-operation by providing a clear vision of development, demonstrating best solutions and discovering the benefits of coherent actions.

• To provide an active contribution to discussions about smart grid development in the country by offering a long-term strategic vision of activities addressing all the essential issues and covering the full spectrum of stakeholders.

• To support countries in the process of adoption by providing them with useful best practices and solutions identified in the leading regions so that they could cost effectively implement them regionally.

• To provide a coherent description of activities to be undertaken at different levels e.g. national, regional or organizational, to plan, start and then steadily develop and refine the process of building an effective and low cost framework for smart metering services.

Despite a large number of roadmaps available across the EU both of these specific roadmaps seem to be novel and original as they constitute a truly strategic long term implementation document. It covers the im-plementation phases and all the main relevant aspects unlike other documents embracing technology issues alone. Its real added value lies in its wide coverage of issues, stakeholders and possible actions addressing inter alia such matters as identification of the starting point, a critical review of law concerning smart metering services, the potential of the smart servicing market, the main technological issues concerning the smart grids concept, driving forces for smart services, barriers to smart services, SWOT of smart servicing deployment, identification of the main stakeholders and their involvement, actions (projects) proposed to be undertaken by the main stakeholders, identification of smart servicing initiatives, national smart grid platforms, roadmap preliminary schedule, estimated costs for reaching the target, key performance indicators and possible actions and milestones of all stakeholders.

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Both roadmaps are addressed to all those showing interest in practical implementation of projects on smart metering services at different levels, e.g. central governments, energy authorities and TSOs in their nationwide planning, local authorities and DSOs in developing their regional plans. In addition, different

smart grid platforms can use it as template for their own activities. An inherent feature of the roadmap is its flexibility and ease of modification according to changing surroundings. The main obstacle to its implementation is a need to reach consensus in those areas of different business interests.

EXAMPLE: Impact of the roadmap in Poland

Poland was one of the countries where the roadmap template was used in a practical field test and an actual roadmap was prepared to demonstrate its capabilities, potential and usefulness in the ongoing process of smart grid development. From the very beginning this was conducted in close co-operation with the main stakeholders. Another benefit was that Poland is still at an early stage of smart metering services development. Thus the roadmap was prepared and communicated to the public at the time when discussion and concrete actions towards building a smart grid were already in progress. In any case, it was the first available document that addressed the implementation process in a comprehensive, coherent and clear way.

That made the roadmap a document received by all with great interest. However, some parties were not very enthusiastic as it calls on the main stakeholders to co-operate, which in the opinion of certain commercial stakeholders would harm their business interests.

An enormous effort has been made to communicate the roadmap to all the main actors and then to obtain feedback from them on a regular basis. In Poland this activity addressed decision-makers at the central gov-ernment level, regional governments and the main energy sector enterprises, e.g. TSO, the main DSOs both in electricity and gas.

The roadmap was presented to members of the Energy Committee of the Polish Parliament at certain gather-ings in the Parliament and in private meetings, and enjoyed a positive reception. Now the Parliament is preparing an amendment to the Energy Law that inter alia addresses smart grid issues.

Of special value is the fact that in Poland the idea of the roadmap was welcomed from the very beginning by the Energy Regulatory Office and was then presented

at several conferences organized by the office as a valu-able component of the vision of smart grids in Poland.

The roadmap received the attention of the leading DSOs implementing large scale smart metering projects and showing interest in enhancing their commercial smart services. Meetings were organized with RWE OPERATOR which represents DSO-E in the Warsaw city district and ENERGA OPERATOR which is DSO-E in the northern part of Poland and the idea was presented briefly during the meeting with ENION which is DSO-E in the southern part of Poland. ENERGA OPERATOR is also extremely interested in broader cooperation within the SmartRegions project and is likely to run a pilot project using certain SmartRegions achievements.

It also received attention from the largest Polish environmental fund which then launched a long-term strategic multi-million euro program on smart grid investments. The fund showed considerable interest in the process and preparation of the roadmap itself.

The roadmap was also used by a number of scientific institutions in their efforts to prepare their own as-sessments of smart grid development.

Furthermore, it is envisaged that the roadmap created will be used for the promotion of innovative smart metering services for residential, public and commercial buildings in project regions (electricity and/or heat/gas) as stipulated by the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Building Directive.

The roadmap paved the way for national-scale development of smart services and highlighted the opportunities for coherent action. It also played a role as a warning against projects undertaken by different organizations in a chaotic manner and lacking in co-ordination.

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5. Promoting best practices in project regions

Defining Best Practices for Innovative Smart Metering Services

Smart metering technologies enable a wide variety of new and innovative reporting, feedback and demand response services, designed to provide the end-user with the motivation and means for more efficient energy use.

The services can be grouped into the following categories:• Energy saving services (information and feedback

services)• Demand response services (dynamic tariffs and

load control services)

To showcase the state-of-the-art in new smart metering based end-user services, best practices have been defined for residential, public and commercial buildings. The selected best practices feature among the smart metering services which have been published in the European Smart Metering Landscape report. The best practice services were gathered from the EU27 and Norway. They cover electricity, heat, gas and water and are based on pilots and commercial implementations.

The aim of the best practices has been to support energy utilities and retailers, end-user service developers as well as policy makers in delivering active customer participation, energy savings and peak load reduction through smart metering. This has been achieved by presenting important aspects to be considered when developing and deploying these services for end-users, and by presenting best practice examples around Europe. As the field of smart metering and related services is in a rapid development phase, these best practice examples have been updated regularly.

The SmartRegions project has listed 27 European best practice examples by using the Google map application on the project’s website. Energy saving services are marked in green and demand response services in red.

Promoting best practices in innovative Smart Metering Services in the project regions

One of the most important goals of the project was to cooperate closely with the utilities and other key market actors in the project regions to advance the market development of new and innovative smart metering services to energy end-users. This has been done by engaging and offering direct support to the key actors through creating pilots and other effective market development activities in the project regions. As a result, a number of pilots and other joint development activities have been created with utilities and companies to develop innovative new smart metering based services.

During the project, numerous direct contacts have been established with energy utilities and other key market actors in the project countries and regions across Europe. They have been brought into the process through bilateral meetings, round table gatherings and workshops organized by the project. Through these, project knowledge and best practices have been transferred to the utilities and other key market actors to further develop their smart metering based services in line with customers’ needs and create new services and products based on smart metering and perceived business opportunities.

The SmartRegions project has proved to be a major driving force for the utilities and other market actors in the project regions by bringing the motivation and expertise to look further than just minimum regulatory requirements, deliver better services and energy savings for their customers, and to create new business through smart metering.

The overall target of the project - boosting market development - has been exceeded, resulting in the provision of new and improved smart metering based services to over 10.000 households and public/commercial buildings.

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A screen shot of the Google map application available on the SmartRegions website

The following three examples from Finland, Germany and Spain present the pilot and other market devel-opment activities conducted in the respective countries.

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EXAMPLE: Energy cottage pilot at Himos holiday resort in Finland

Eight electrically-heated cottages and two service buildings were equipped with Landis+Gyr’s ecoMeter energy displays. Using the energy display the customer was able, during his or her stay, to monitor in real time the cottage’s electricity consumption and its impact on the carbon footprint. Customers also received password protected access to the EcoreAction online service, where electricity consumption data could be studied in more detail and compared to previous users’ and previous year consumptions. The Energy Cottage pilot scheme began in February 2012 and finished at the end of January 2013. During the testing period the online service was also available as a public test version.

The aim of the pilot was to both reduce the holiday resort’s carbon footprint and energy costs, as well as to encourage customers to pay attention to energy efficiency at home, too. The Energy Cottage pilot scheme served as an example to HimosMaailma Oy’s customers, the energy utilities and other actors of how the potential of new smart metering technology can be made use of in practice. Energy Cottage customers were encouraged to give feedback about the energy display and online service.

Test, monitor and influence your energy consumption

The ecoMeter energy display was linked wirelessly to the building’s smart electric meter. The energy display provided real-time indication of electricity consumption in kilowatts as well as of the costs and the carbon

footprint generated by this consumption. The device’s indicator lamps expressed the level of energy con-sumption in the form of traffic lights: with one glance the customer was able to see whether the level of con-sumption was small, moderate or large.

The EcoreAction online service provided an opportunity to check and compare energy consumption at different times. The service permitted the hourly, daily, weekly and annual level of consumption to be checked. Using the online service the customer developed an understanding of how times of the day and year affect consumption.

Besides the energy display and online service, customers occupying the Energy Cottages received abundant information on how they could make use of the energy monitoring service at different stages of their holiday. In addition, a wide variety of tips on how to save energy were given. Information was available as an enclosure with the booking confirmation, when collecting the key to the cottage and from the info file kept in each cot-tage. The information material was produced in Finnish, English and Russian.

During the testing period, around 500 persons visited the energy cottages and had access to the services. During the period, the average energy consumption per customer decreased by 8 % in the buildings (when taking the weather into account). The in-home display and practical tips on energy-saving behaviour were seen as being especially effective ways of raising awareness and saving energy. The owners of the buildings involved in the pilot explained that the energy consumption and costs were generally very high, and saw the visualization of real-time consumption and costs, combined with real-time control possibilities, as the best way to increase energy savings. They also saw the creation of a positive image by committing to energy efficiency as important.

After the testing period, the pilot was expanded to the “Energy Cottage” concept, based on the interest of the resort management in the concept and on the positive experiences. Every cottage and building in the resort area now has the possibility to adopt the “Energy Cottage” concept.

Landis + G

yr

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EXAMPLE: Social Metering App by GreenPocket

The GreenPocket Social Metering App is an example of an especially innovative smart metering service pro-moted by the SmartRegions project. Although the product was not publicly available to consumers at the time, the Social Metering App was featured in the European Smart Metering Landscape Report and as a best practice example on the project website and in various project presentations and events.

Maintaining customer interest

The reason for promoting the Social Metering App was that it uses modern methods to address a common problem with smart metering services – maintaining customer interest.

Most smart metering pilot projects testing the effect of visualization systems have shown that customer mo-tivation and interest tail off after the initial enthusiasm of using something new and exciting has passed. The Social Metering App combines a smart metering visualization system with integration into social media platforms, allowing users to share and compare energy behaviour data with friends. This serves as a constant “push” factor for customers to assess and improve their energy efficiency and load shifting.

App for mobile devices

Developed by a German start-up company, the Social Metering App is available as a test application for Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. It allows users to view and share smart metering data in terms of carbon emissions, kWh, or monetary costs. The customer can share successes and failures in energy saving with other users as well as take part in regular competitions, for which utilities can award prizes, either virtual (points) or real (e.g. concert tickets). The app works with all energy carriers (electricity, gas, oil) and water meters. Metering data in the form of 15-minute values is required to use all of the options offered by the app.

Response and results

The Social Metering App is a strong example of a company using smart metering technology to develop a product which targets the actual interests and desires of customers.

The goal of the promotion was to encourage utilities to implement innovative software offered by smart metering service providers as well as inspire market actors to develop similarly innovative products. Similar products have since been developed, although the Social Metering App has not yet been taken up by a German utility.

GreenPocket Social Metering App

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EXAMPLE: First pilot in Spain shows consumers how to obtain benefit from their smart meters

Escan, the Spanish SmartRegions partner, decided to focus its activities in Cantabria, one of the most active smart regions in Spain. Cantabria is a representative community for the whole country, making the replication and dissemination of the results easier. The pilot region is home to approximately 500 000 inhabitants.

Cantabria is home to the first representative pilot test project on smart metering services in Spain, which is currently in progress. The project was conceived and planned in 2012 and the practical demonstration will take place between January and December 2013. The region’s main DSO, an energy efficiency consultancy, and the University of Cantabria are all active pilot partners, and the pilot has been approved and supported by the national energy market supervisor (National Energy Commission).

The pilot action aims to provide new informative bills to householders with smart meters. Participants in different representative groups receive specific information to allow an evaluation of how much they:

a. Show interest in the new information (e.g. visiting the website or contacting the info desk)

b. Reduce average energy consumptionc. Reduce peak loadsd. Reduce stand-by consumptione. Optimize selection of the best-suited access tariff

Informed consumer project (COIN)

E.ON is Spain’s leading electric energy company in terms of the rate of smart meter installation amongst their customers.

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E.ON is deploying a well-developed and proven technology including not just electronic meters but also a complex telecommunications infrastructure. This has allowed E.ON to integrate an innovative Advanced Me-tering Management system with enhanced metering functionalities e.g. detailed knowledge of customer consumption patterns, including a detailed record of hourly demand and the maximum and minimum amount of energy consumed.

The COIN (COnsumer INformed) project uses this framework to analyse a representative sample of residential electricity consumers. These customers receive monthly informative bills for one year. In addition, a web portal allows them to review their historical consumption profile using different timescales (e.g. daily, monthly or annual) as well as view value-added information such as potential savings or efficiency tips. A customer care service provided by E.ON consisting of a free phone number and an e-mail address means that consumers are guaranteed support in understanding the information provided. The main aims of the project are therefore to assess which smart meter information is best provided and to evaluate the potential of smart meters in reducing energy consumption, particularly permanent consumption. In addition, the topic of consumer energy awareness will receive special attention.

Another aim of the project is to improve the demand management system, quantify the real benefits of smart meters, and gain knowledge of consumer behaviour and their interest in new potential services for their electronic devices.

The benefits of the pilot project for various market actors can be summarized as follows:

1. Consumers:• Receive the most useful information provided

by electronic meters thanks to the analysis of the effect of information types on consumer behaviour.

• Gain awareness regarding energy efficiency and energy demand potential as a result of receiving data in the form of monthly paper reports and continuous online access to information.

2. Public and regulatory bodies• Are able to quantify the real benefits provided

by smart meters in order to correctly define the economic framework for large-scale rollouts.

• Are provided with a real data analysis of which information is more useful for the consumer in order to better develop suitable regulation.

3. DSOs:• Gain knowledge of consumer behaviour and

interest in smart meter services• First steps towards utilising the detailed

information provided by smart meters and an assessment of the requirements of exchanging this information with other sector players, such as energy services companies and energy retailers.

The pilot is a test for the distribution company and the other partners involved (particularly Escan as energy efficiency advisor and the University of Cantabria for statistical validation of the project), but also serves as an example for other national distribution companies now planning smart meter roll-outs.

The SmartRegions project has been actively involved in the pilot from the beginning: providing advice in management meetings, supplying information on efficiency services, contributing to the content and design of information to be given to the users, and providing information on energy-saving measures for households.

As part of the SmartRegions project and during the testing period 1 082 homes are being studied and compared to another 663 homes functioning as a reference group. The results of the pilot test are expected in 2014..

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6. Development of energy reporting systems by using the results of customer surveys

Several SmartRegions project partners had joint projects with energy utilities to develop their reporting services based on smart meter data as well as to create new smart metering based services and products for DSOs and suppliers. The focus in the development of the energy reporting systems has been to better achieve customer engagement and energy savings. Detailed descriptions of such joint pilot projects are presented from Norway and Austria.

In Central Finland the joint project was carried out in cooperation with the region’s largest utility, Jyväskylän Energia Oy. A survey involving around 400 household customers was made to discover their preferences on the utility’s recently launched on-line energy reporting service, and to find business cases for new energy efficiency services based on smart metering. Based on the results, the SmartRegions project assisted the utility in drafting a plan to further develop on-line energy reporting, available to all their 48 000 grid customers with smart meters. The results also provided valuable information on customer needs regarding new services and products based on smart metering.

The survey found, for example, that thanks to the energy reporting service interest in saving electricity grew for a majority of customers and a clear majority consider that the service helps in saving energy. Furthermore, 98 % of customers are going to continue using the service, and the preferred way to receive energy consumption information is via the on-line service. On the other hand, better communication is needed to educate customers on how to use and benefit from the service, and customers often emphasized the need for real-time feedback and ways to establish appliance-specific consumptions.

Conclusions from the joint pilot projects

Even though the pilot projects were implemented in various different European countries the main conclusions are surprisingly similar.

The main conclusions are:

• Customers were very pleased with the monthly billing service.

• Customers found the in-home display very attractive. It appears to be a suitable instrument for motivating customers to reflect on the energy consumption of particular appliances.

• Feedback by means of a web portal is less attractive to customers. Customers expect mobile applications.

• Device-based energy consumption interests many consumers.

In-home displays and monthly billing can increase customer satisfaction significantly once the customer has experienced the advantages of these feedback instruments.

In order for customers to take advantage of the feedback systems, certain conditions must be fulfilled:

• Provision of a comprehensive explanation to the customer of the system’s benefits.

• Open-mindedness of the customer regarding smart meters.

• The customer must be committed to saving energy.

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EXAMPLE: Smart metering – The effect of feedback systems on energy behaviour

Lower Austria is the largest Austrian federal province and has more than 1 617 000 inhabitants. EVN (Ener-gieversorgung Niederösterreich) is a leading international and publicly-listed energy and environmental services company. EVN supplies around 800 000 customers in Lower Austria with electricity, 280 000 customers with gas and 40 000 customers with heat.

As part of the SmartRegions project, EVN and the Austrian Energy Agency ran a joint pilot project testing various feedback systems in terms of their effectiveness, customer satisfaction and the willingness to pay for them. The feedback systems being tested were in-home displays, a monthly billing system, and feedback via a web portal. A control group was also set up in order to allow comparison of the energy savings achieved.

Project setup

Smart meters were installed in 287 households and commercial buildings supplied with electricity. Based on the consumption data recorded by the smart meter, customers received additional feedback. The pilot project lasted 12 months, and the energy consumption within this period was compared with that of a control group.

Increase in customer satisfaction

As well as measuring the energy savings achieved, the project measured customer satisfaction and the use of the three feedback systems. 81 % of participants had a positive view of smart meters. Feedback based on smart metering was seen as progress compared to the usual billing system of monthly payments based on the previous year’s energy consumption. Monthly billing and in-home displays fulfil different functions, but

were seen as complementing each other. The monthly bill gave customers a better idea of their current costs, while the display provided information on how much energy specific appliances consumed. Two-thirds of participants confirmed that the display helped them to save energy, and 36 % bought new, energy-efficient appliances as a result of the feedback they received from the display. Monthly billing was seen as a valuable instrument to increase the transparency of electricity consumption. 86 % said that monthly billing helped them to control their electricity costs. The interest in feedback via a web portal, on the other hand, was much lower. 70 % of participants stated that they would not use the web portal at all.

Energy savings achieved

The pilot group achieved higher reductions in energy consumption than the control group. Energy savings averaged 3.9 %, compared to 1.1 % in the control group in the same period. Households with a higher number of appliances tended to save more energy than other households. However, this did not apply to households with more than three lifestyle appliances (e.g. sauna, swimming pool, aquarium, or waterbed). In these households, the energy consumption even increased after the installation of a smart meter.

There is a clear correlation between knowledge of the energy consumption of particular appliances (provided by a display or monthly billing) and energy behaviour. Customers who stated that they now had a deeper knowledge of the energy consumption of their appliances reduced their electricity consumption by between 3.0 % and 3.4 %. Those who stated that they had no deeper knowledge only reduced their electricity consumption by between 0.6 % and 1.4 %.

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EXAMPLE: Energy efficiency due to in-home displays

Follo (Eastern Norway) and Askøy (Western Norway) were selected as pilot regions for promoting innovative smart metering services in Norway. The average electricity consumption in Norwegian households is quite high compared to other European countries (approximately 16 000 kWh/year in 2009), mainly due to the use of electricity for space heating. Around 80% of annual electricity consumption goes on space and tap water heating.

SmartRegions pilot activities

The SmartRegions pilot was organised in cooperation with a national research project: “Environmental benefits from full-scale implementation of smart metering” (2009-2013), focusing on the environmental benefits of smart metering technology, mainly in terms of improving energy efficiency.

The pilot was completed at the end of 2012. Its goal was to identify ways of increasing customer awareness of their own electricity consumption, and to thereby encourage them to reduce their consumption.

The pilots: In-home displays for household customersA prototype of the new Norwegian in-home display “eWave” was tested. eWave offers different display options (e.g. graphs or a speedometer) to present electricity consumption and energy costs.

The display communicates wirelessly with a pulse meter connected to the electricity meter. A smart meter is not required for this first version of the display. The display is connected to the internet using the household Wi-Fi (WLAN) network. This allows the service provider to send messages to the customer via the in-home display. A prototype version of the display was tested in the pilot. Some technical start-up problems were experienced, but these have since been resolved. A new version of the display will be released in 2013. The in-home displays were offered by the power retailer (Fredrikstad Energi/Askøy Energi) in combination with an energy contract. The power retailer paid for the in-home displays used in the pilot. 91 displays were installed in customer households for the pilot study: 47 in Askøy and 44 in Follo.

eWave in-home display

In-home displays: The results Three customer surveys were carried out during the one-year test period. The surveys were distributed to the participating customers before the installation of the in-home display, then three months after installation, and finally at the end of the pilot. An additional two surveys were carried out with a control group of 42 households.

The average building age of the test households was similar for all of the test groups. Approximately 10 % of the houses were built before 1950 and around 50 % were built after 1980. The average age of the buildings involved in the pilot was lower than the national Norwegian average. Electricity and fire stoves were the main heating sources in the houses.

The participants viewed the displays positively and not as a disturbing factor in their day-to-day lives. This is presented in the figure with a large proportion agreeing or strongly agreeing that the information pro-vided by the display helped them to take environmental considerations into account, save money and save electricity. A large proportion disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that the display was a disturbing factor during the day.

In all three surveys the participants answered questions on their electricity consumption habits e.g. whether they reduce the temperature when out or turn off appliances and lights when not using them (see figure). A large proportion of households turned appliances and lights off when not using them or if they were not present. A smaller proportion of households reduced

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Influence of the eWave display

Electricity consumption habits

the indoor temperature when going out or during the night. This indicates that customers were more focused on “visible” consumption, even though more electricity is used for heating.

The changes in electricity consumption in the pilot study, compared to historical consumption, are presented in the figures below. The curves represent maximum and minimum consumption for the different periods. The columns represent the average consumption for all the customers involved. Since some problems related to the displays were experienced, only customers with a display that functioned properly for a longer period of time have been selected. The figures present the results from 19 households with a working display for 6 months and 11 households with a working display for 8-13 months. Compared to the same periods in the years before the pilot, the reduction in consumption was 7.5% for 19 households over 6 months and 5.9% for 11 households over 8-13 months. The results include households in both Askøy and Follo. The results have been corrected for different temperatures and locations. There was already a reduction for the two previous years, so there is uncertainty related to how this descending trend might have continued without the display.

Changed electricity consumption

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7. Co-operation and dissemination

The project consortium comprised project partners from eight European countries (Finland, Norway, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain). Additionally an international Steering Committee supported project implementation and monitored the progress of the project. The committee members brought national needs and wishes to the project, helped to analyse the results critically and provided the project with a good channel for disseminating the achievements to high levels especially in the participating countries.

The role of companies has been extremely central and important in the SmartRegions project. The partners have had multiple meetings with the Distribution System Operators and energy suppliers in their regions. The focus has been on transferring project knowledge and best practices to the utilities to further develop their new consumer energy reporting services, consumer needs and products based on smart metering and business opportunities. Additionally the focus has been on creating joint projects to develop better information and feedback services (mainly online consumption reporting systems) and new services (real-time displays, dynamic load controls) and tariffs. In Poland and Romania the involvement of the key target groups has been essential when preparing the roadmaps for innovative smart metering services.

All partners were responsible for the dissemination of the results. During the project there were several dif-ferent channels via which to disseminate information.

• the project’s website• organizing the final results seminar, back-to-back

with Metering Europe 2012• organizing national round table meetings and

workshops• oral project presentations at national and

international seminars / conferences / workshops• articles and press releases written by project

members or external journalists• other printed material (posters, leaflets,

brochures etc.)

Project website

The project’s website is a user-friendly tool and contains all the material published by the project during the period 5/2010-5/2013. According to the statistics, there have been ~ 105 000 visits, ~200 000 page downloads, and 22 000 file downloads (226 different files) on the SmartRegions website since the beginning of the project. The website will remain open until May 2015.

European Smart Metering Landscape and new innovative services and products displayed at Metering Europe 2012

Metering Europe 2012 (in full: Metering, Billing/CRM Europe 2012) is the largest smart metering and smart grids conference and exhibition event in Europe. Over four days in October 2012, a total of 6 700 conference delegates, exhibitors and visitors from around the world attended the event. As a pre-conference event, the SmartRegions project organised its own results seminar on the theme of “Showcasing new business for consumerbased smart metering services”. The Dutch partner, NL Agency, had the main responsibility for organizing the results seminar. The SmartRegions seminar proved to be the most successful of the pre-conference seminars, attracting approximately 100 participants from energy companies and industry around the globe.

The SmartRegions project published the second edition of its popular European Smart Metering Landscape report at the Metering Europe 2012 conference and exhibition in Amsterdam. The report was presented by the Austrian SmartRegions partner Dr. Roland Hierzinger at the results seminar.

Furthermore, during the event’s international exhibition on 9 - 11th October, in close cooperation with Dutch Steering Committee Member Liander and multinational telecom companies Siemens and KPN, the SmartRegions project organised a stand in the Energy Experience area displaying new and innovative

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solutions for consumer energy efficiency based on smart metering. The stand featured presentations of the GreenPocket and GEO home energy management systems, the Quby in-house display as well as the Sävel+ web portal for energy consumption feedback for utility customers and dynamic demand response system from Helsingin Energia Oy.

On the third day of the conference, the Finnish SmartRegions partner Mr. Lauri Penttinen from Central Finland Energy Agency contributed to the Smart retail and consumer session by giving a presentation on the situation regarding smart metering and consumer engagement in Europe, possible new market developments, as well as smart services and business models launched in the market. The presentation gathered 80 conference delegates.

Following the successful performance at Metering Europe 2012 in Amsterdam, the SmartRegions project

Mr. Lauri Penttinen presenting the Sävel+ energy reporting web portal to Metering Europe 2012 exhibition visitors. (Photo: Tytti Laitinen)

was invited to present its results also at Smart Utilities Scandinavia 2013 which was organised on 17th-18th April in Stockholm (Sweden). Altogether 200 smart energy professionals attended the event. The speakers gave presentations on innovative smart metering services that are already commercially available and how to create long lasting economic value out of smart energy.

At the Scandinavian conference Mr. Lauri Penttinen from Central Finland Energy Agency presented the results of the SmartRegions project under the topic “The importance of rapid market developments in smart metering services”. The presentation included an overview of the European smart metering landscape, underlining the importance of, and ways to develop, the market for new services and products enabling consumer engagement, as well as examples of new value-added services and business models building on smart metering.

Furthermore, Mr. Penttinen was invited to take part in the closing panel discussion under the topic of “Realising Smart Energy”. The closing panel tackled

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Furthermore, Mr. Penttinen was invited to take part in the closing panel discussion under the topic of “Realising Smart Energy”. The closing panel tackled the questions of understanding consumer needs and establishing consumer engagement, mobilizing business development and evaluating the timetable for the market for smart services and products to take off.

Also at the Scandinavian conference Mrs. Hanne Sæle from SINTEF Energy Research presented the require-ments for smart grid architecture and smart metering in Norway based on several projects at SINTEF Energy Research. The presentation also included the status of smart metering in Europe (the graph from the European Landscape Report published by the SmartRegions project). After the presentation Mrs Sæle participated in the panel discussion related to smart metering and smart grids, including the current status and opportunities for different technologies and services.

Other dissemination activities

The SmartRegions project partners have organized in total 43 events (workshops and round tables) gathering 1218 participants representing the industry, public authorities and policy makers. These have been significant events at the national level aimed at bringing together the key market actors and decision makers and supporting the development of the industry and policy on smart metering and smart metering services.

The results of the SmartRegions project have also been presented at ~60 national and international seminars, conferences, workshops and the like.

Additionally the partners have produced different kinds of dissemination material for these events (leaflets, brochures, posters etc.) and published several articles in national and international journals. One example of the successful promotion of the project comes from the Netherlands. The Dutch partner, NL Agency, promoted the results of the project for public/commercial SMEs

using an advertorial in the April/May edition of a printed medium: the monthly technical journal ‘Duurzaam Gebouwd’ (‘Sustainable Building’). This well respected specialist journal covers 20 000 specialist subscribers, more than 60 000 website visitors per month, 5 000 newsletter subscribers, 3 800 LinkedIn members and 3 500 Twitter followers.

Information dissemination activities have played a very important role in the promotion of the SmartRegions project. In order to succeed in dissemination the partners created national and international mailing lists for publicity purposes and direct mailings to professionals interested in the field. All dissemination material is published on the project’s website.

Additionally, the partners worked in close operation with other national and international projects and programmes.

Mrs. Mihaela Albu, Politechnica University of Bucharest, presenting the main results of the project in Romania in Amsterdam (Photo: Tytti Laitinen)

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8. Conclusions from the SmartRegions project

During its three year duration, the SmartRegions project has contributed to the development of smart metering and related energy efficiency and demand response services in Europe. Through the project, key market actors and decision makers have been provided with new and relevant information on the key barriers and opportunities as concerns development of both the smart metering infrastructure and the services needed for customers to achieve better energy management.

Furthermore, sharing best practices and success stories related to smart metering implementations with different countries as well as increasing cooperation and dialogue between different market actors and policy makers have been identified as very important actions.

By directly cooperating with the utilities and other key market actors to further develop their smart metering based services, matching the customers’ needs and developing new services and products based on smart metering, the project has supported market development in the direction of services and products enabling better energy management.

The SmartRegions project has been a driving force for the utilities and other market actors in the project regions by bringing motivation and expertise to look further than simple minimum regulatory requirements, deliver better services and energy savings for their customers, and to create new business through smart metering.

The main lessons learnt:

• EU and national level regulation, based on the needs of network modernization and energy efficiency, are the primary drivers for smart metering in Europe. The roll-outs are usually implemented on the regulated side of the energy market, primarily by DSOs. Also, some roll-outs have been driven by clear business cases, usually based on reducing non-technical losses and increasing the DSO’s operational efficiency.

• Related to this development, new smart metering based services for end-users’ energy efficiency and demand response have clearly increased. The first large scale implementations of smart metering services are taking place in countries where national roll-outs are near completion, through DSOs fulfilling their minimum regulatory requirements (technical, billing and energy reporting). On the other hand, the market development towards large scale uptake and diffusion to energy consumers of these new services in Europe will most probably take place only when smart metering roll-outs have been completed or almost completed in the largest countries, which sets the timeline close to the year 2020.

• Several energy companies using smart meters have launched web-based energy reporting services to offer smart metering data to their customers free of charge. After initial interest, the average number of customers using these services usually turns out to be rather low. Also, additional services involving an extra fee, such as in-home displays and HEMS enabling demand response, are increasingly being offered but people in general have not yet found these.

• The major drivers for new and innovative smart metering services are perceived to come from the deregulated side of the market. These actors include electricity retailers and other market players, such as energy efficiency service companies, ESCOs, smart product vendors and demand response service and aggregator companies. In countries where the roll-outs have progressed furthest, these actors have opened the game by developing and launching new and more advanced information and feedback and demand response services. Still, the market is underdeveloped and companies are unsure of how to create business out of new services and products based on smart metering. Furthermore, the operating policies and regulation of the

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energy industry need to be further developed in order to remove barriers, thus fully unleashing the potential of smart meter data and functionalities to create new services. Another important aspect is raising consumers’ awareness of smart meters, their potential and benefits, and engaging consumers to use new services to activate the demand side.

• To tackle the possible backlashes from consumer interest groups, better communication is needed from both governmental and the utilities’ side to address at least two relevant issues:

1. How benefits for consumers and energy companies from smart meter roll-outs are achieved, taking into account both the DSO operational efficiency benefits and how these are allocated to consumers, as well as the benefits from improved billing and new services and products enabled by smart meters.

2. How data security and privacy issues are managed to protect consumers. Smart metering health issues are also under debate, however less so in Europe. Nevertheless, health questions should be properly addressed via active communication. There is a solid scientific base for the argument that compared to the electromagnetic radiation to which citizens are already exposed, smart meters represent a very minor or non-existent addition.

The benefits from this kind of communication cover a wide range of aspects, such as the viability of roll-outs for the political and utility sector, and gaining consumer acceptability and engagement to use smart meters for behaviour change and better energy management. For example, Landis + Gyr Oy has produced a handbook in cooperation with several local energy companies about the purpose and benefits of smart metering and this handbook has been distributed to all households in the respective energy company’s district.

• In the course of the SmartRegions project most discussion focused on electricity consumption and the potential for making savings in it. It is just as important to remember other energy carriers. The new regulations for smart meters require that it should be possible to connect other meters (heat, gas, water). This will further increase the benefits from the SmartRegions project when new services for other energy carriers are discussed. For example, smart water meters could inform either the household or the water company if there are leakages in the home or piping systems. Improving water efficiency is a key issue in Europe.

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Comments made by external agencies

Mr. Bram Reinders, Dutch Association of Network Operators, The NetherlandsA welcome initiative to stimulate a pan-European dialogue and collaboration between established industry players and new entrants in the smart energy space.

Mr. Noe van Hulst, Energy Academy EuropeTweet on March 1st 2013 after publication of an article about the Landscape Report on the Energy Academy Europe website: ”Smart metering in Europe has a long way to go”

Mr. Mauri Patrikainen, Landis + Gyr Oy, FinlandFor us, the SmartRegions project was an opportunity to share our experience and the best practices of our Scandinavian rollouts with the rest of Europe. I also appreciate the good networking in the project. The comprehensive landscape report provides useful information on our market in a compiled and unified format.

Mr. Jan Maciejanski, REE! Managementgesellschaft mbH, GermanySmartRegions has provided the smart metering community with important resources which have the potential to assist in the development of new services when the German regulatory push finally happens.

Mr. David Kramer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The NetherlandsThe European Landscape Report 2012, published by the European SmartRegions project, gives a useful benchmarking insight into the state of play of smart meters in various countries.

Mr. Luis Jesús Sánchez de Tembleque, National Commission for Energy, SpainSpain is currently developing its massive deployment of smart meters with a target of having 100% new meters installed by 2018. Success is highly dependent on obtaining benefits simultaneously for both the energy companies and consumers. The CNE and the SmartRegions project have developed joint activities to achieve this target, promoting the market and favouring networking inside Spain and in the EU, particularly in the co-organization of workshops, participation as speakers at project events or evaluation of the cost-benefit tool. We hope that projects similar to SmartRegions will continue in the future to help in reaching our national objectives.

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Dr. Thomas Goette, GreenPocket GmbH, GermanyThe SmartRegions project provided a platform for the presentation as well as the discussion of innovative smart metering services in Europe. The European Smart Metering Landscape Report as well as various national and international events have helped industry actors to recognize the benefits of investing in consumer-oriented smart metering services and provided a basis for cooperation between utilities and smart metering service providers.

Mr. Calin Vilt, MECMA Committee for Smart Grids, RomaniaThe „European Smart Metering Landscape Report” and the „Roadmap for innovative Smart Metering end-user services in Romania” were excellent initiatives of the European Smart Regions Program. The effort done by the Politehnica University of Bucharest and the Institute for Studies and Power Engineering was a really successful effort to implement the Smart Grids Concept in Romania. The study came at the right moment to be useful in the effort of all utilities in Romania to define their Smart Metering programs, technologies and feasibility studies. The study made a legislation overview, and an inventory of customers for electricity, gas and heat.

Mr. Even Bjørnstad, Enova SF, NorwayA future with secure, efficient and sustainable energy grids in Europe requires wide deployment of a fundamental smart grid infrastructure. The Smart Regions project offers a comprehensive overview of the status of this deployment process, including valuable insights into regulatory frameworks, drivers and barriers at the level of individual Member States.

Professor Tadeusz Skoczkowski, Warsaw University of Technology“The Polish roadmap paved the way to nation scale development of smart services showing opportunities of coherent action. It also played its role as a warning against projects undertaken by different organizations in a chaotic way, lacking co-ordination”

Mr. John Parsons, Consumer Energy Display Group (CEDIG), United KingdomSmart metering is happening and energy savings are a major part of the benefits. Success also depends on getting the right messages to the consumer and allowing new markets to develop. Smart metering service providers want to work with others to make Smart Metering a European success story. The SmartRegions seminar helped us spread our message and network to traditional stakeholders in Europe.

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EACI contact person and SmartRegions partners

The SmartRegions project was co-financed by the Intelligent Energy – Europe programme of the European Commission.

European Commission – Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI)European Commission, IEE Programme – Energy Efficiency Unit, COV2 10/150, B-1049 Brussels, BelgiumMr. Timothée Noël, Project Officer (Energy Services)[email protected]://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/index_en.htm

Central Finland Energy Agency

Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd. Central Finland Energy AgencyPiippukatu 11, 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland Piippukatu 11, 40100 Jyväskylä, FinlandMs. Tytti Laitinen (coordinator) Mr. Lauri [email protected] [email protected] www.kesto.fi

SINTEF Energy Research EnCT GmbHP.O. Box 4761 Sluppen, 7465 Trondheim, Norway Fuggerstraße 14, 86150 Augsburg, GermanyMrs. Hanne Sæle Mr. Alastair [email protected] [email protected]/energy www.enct.de

Austrian Energy Agency NL AgencyMariahilfer Straße 136, 1150 Wien, Austria P.O. Box 8242, 3503 RE Utrecht,Mr. Roland Hierzinger The [email protected] Mr. Henk van Elburgwww.energyagency.at [email protected] www.agentschapnl.nl

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Polish National Energy Conservation Agency Institute for Studies and Power EngineeringNowowiejska 21/25, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland 1-3 Lacul Tei Boulevard,Mrs. Karolina Loth-Babut 020371 Bucharest, [email protected] Mrs. Adriana Milandruwww. kape.gov.pl [email protected] www.ispe.ro

Politehnica University of Bucharest Escan,s.l. Spl. Independentei 313, sector 6, Avda. Ferrol 14, 28029 Madrid, Spain060042 Bucharest, Romania Mr. Francisco PuenteMrs. Mihaela Albu [email protected]@upb.ro

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The directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services (ESD) sets a 9% energy saving target by 2016, and the EU has set the objective of reducing energy consumption by 20% by 2020. However, recent estimates suggest that current measures can achieve energy savings of only about 13% by 2020. In addition, ESD Article 13 lays down the basic community legislation for energy metering and informative billing. Yet the EC has estimated that the use of new energy metering and billing systems should grow at a faster rate in order to meet the requirements of the ESD.

Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 details that electricity metering systems should provide information on actual time of use and that the objectives of energy efficiency and benefits for final customers should be considered. Member States must ensure that final customers have the possibility of easy access to complementary information on historical consumption, such as cumulative data or time of use for any day, week, month and year. These data shall be made available to the final customer via the internet or meter interface. The directive also stipulates that Member States shall ensure that final customers receive all their bills and billing information for energy consumption free of charge and that final customers also have access to their consumption data in an appropriate way and free of charge. Finally, Member States shall also take appropriate measures to promote and facilitate an efficient use of energy by small energy customers, including domestic customers. These issues were considered by the European project entitled SmartRegions – Promoting best practices in innovative smart metering services to the European regions.

The SmartRegions project was implemented during the period 5/2010–5/2013 with the task of promoting innovative smart metering services, such as informative billing and feedback, variable tariffs and load control services that have the most potential to bring about energy savings and peak load reduction. In this, the project aimed to inspire and encourage energy utilities, energy service providers as well as regulators across Europe to promote the development of these new services and to utilize the full potential of the new metering technology.

The From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers publication publication presents the main results of the SmartRegions project by summarising the promotional work aimed at development of innovative smart metering services. The publication serves the interests of policy makers, local authorities, distribution system operators, energy utilities and retailers, end-user service developers and everyone with an interest in the topic of smart metering services.

www.smartregions.net

Documents

From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers · From Smart Meters to Smart Consumers by SmartRegions – Promoting best practices in innovative smart metering services to the European regions