SMART METERING

Smart metering of electricity, gas and water consumption is playing a vital role as
utility companies seek more accurate, granular and timely data to operate their
businesses more efficiently and address the need to manage increased demand
for applications such as charging electric vehicles. At the same time, the energy
industry is being transformed by the need to reduce its environmental impact.
This is seeing increased two-way traffic as buildings become energy generators
from renewable sources such as solar and wind.

Utilities therefore need to gather and analyze data not only on consumption but
also on generation and balance this with expected demand from across the grid.
The richness of meter data, and crucially its transmission, is enabling electricity
grids to avoid brown-outs, in which electricity availability becomes constrained, as
well as identification of frauds and wastage. In the water and gas industry, meter
data is similarly being used to identify leakage and frauds and to enable more
accurate billing and charging