Smart Meter Info

How will we use your smart meter information?

 

What we will do with information from a smart meter

The way that we use information from smart meters will evolve as more and more meters are installed. Initially we will use it to help manage power outages. Over time it will be used to help us develop the electricity network to allow more low carbon technologies such as electric vehicles and heat pumps.

Helping manage power outages

Many, but not all, smart meters alert us when the power goes off and comes back on again. Whilst this alerts us to an outage, it can also be caused by other factors such as software upgrades on your meter. Please continue to use 105 to contact us if your power goes off.

If you call us about your power supply, we can also check with a smart meter to advise you if the supply is live. If it is, the best way forward might be for you to check your own equipment and talk to your electrician. This ability to check also allows us to confirm which customers have been restored during wider power outages, speeding up resolution of faults.

Developing the electricity network

How we manage and develop the electricity network is changing so that we can support the move to a green economy. Our ambition is to use smart meter information to assist in continuing to provide a high quality and reliable electricity supply; with minimum disruption (digging up the roads or temporarily turning off the power) and cost to our customers.

Consumption data

We will use the meter readings (which we anonymise and combine with your neighbours) and combine it with other electricity usage data we have. This will allow us to evolve our knowledge of electricity usage on individual cables in the road and on overhead lines.

Identifying where there is spare capacity or where additional capacity needs to be provided means we can make the best decisions as to how to spend the money customers pay us through their bills.

Voltage information

The supply voltage is an important component in the quality of the electricity supply. It can change during the day as appliances are turned on and off and if there is local generation such as solar panels installed. We can ask a smart meter to tell us the supply voltage a customer is currently getting.

By checking the voltage at points on the network, we will be able to make the best decisions on how we configure the network for optimal operation and where we might need to improve it.

 

In order to safeguard privacy, Ofgem has approved our Smart Metering Data Privacy Plan which is available here.