25 Jun 2009: Smart meters report released

Today I released the report Smart electricity meters: How households and the environment can benefit. In the report I have made nine recommendations to a number of Ministers.

Electricity is a wonderfully versatile form of energy that has become essential to our way of life. Perhaps it is because of its importance to us all, whether as individuals, or as commercial or industrial users, many of us have an opinion as to what’s working and what’s not. There’s a lot of work currently underway on how the electricity system is operating and what it’s delivering for consumers. And it’s a topic that I have been spending some time on

Really smart meters can help us use less electricity, which is good for households and good for the environment. For example, reducing electricity use by 5 per cent could save householders $125 million each year. And would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking around 200,000 cars off the road. A little bit in many homes adds up to a lot.

In our report we identified a number of issues in relation to smart meters including:

- Most smart meters being installed now are ‘dumb’ – smart for the retailer but no one else. In three years, more than half New Zealand houses will have these ‘dumb’ meters installed. Ten per cent already do.

- The key smartness can be added later but this will cost a lot more.

- Smart meters that are really ‘smart’ will help the market deliver better results, putting more competition into the electricity market.

New Zealand households and our environment are missing out. A small investment today in the right solutions will pay big dividends in the future. Now is the time to act.