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| Smart Energy Future Innovators in ICT required |
Extract from speech by Julia Gillard -
Electricity prices: the facts, Speech to the Energy Policy Institute of AustraliaTUE 07 AUGUST 2012Prime Minister Julia Gillard Sydney AUSTRALIA ... For too long, some State Governments have been increasing their revenue at the expense of the family electricity bill – that has to stop. Given all those facts and given the regulator itself says the present regulatory framework has led to price increases which are difficult to justify, how can we doubt Australians are paying more than they should for electricity? So let’s act. First, let’s give people more power over what they pay for power. A typical suburban house today doesn’t even have smart meters to measure peak demand, much less to help people control it. People need and deserve more choice and control. Already, the Federal Government has taken important steps to do this. But we want to put even more effective control in the hands of energy users, in the hands of working people, pensioners, owners of small businesses. ... And the Federal Government is directly investing in demonstrating smart electricity networks. In time, these will allow people to have far greater control over their own household electricity use, along with far more information about their own needs. People should be able to use what they want when they want it and cut out expensive services they don’t need. Picture a smart phone app that means you can load the clothes dryer or a dishwasher before you leave home – and then turn it on when a low cost rate becomes available during the day. Or consider new technology so home air conditioners can switch themselves between high and low power mode, keeping a house cool while limiting use in high-cost periods of peak demand. Or in the same way many people use a travel agent or a mortgage broker to get the best bargains, small businesses could hire a clean energy adviser to analyse the data about their business’s energy consumption and find a better deal. |
Extract of article by Combined Pensioners & Superannuants of NSW Inc -
‘Smart’ Meters add to pensioner electricity costsMonday, 23 January 2012Sydney AUSTRALIA PENSIONERS may be forced to do their household chores overnight if they wish to save on electricity bills. The cost of running appliances and cooling your home could double under a new proposal put forward to the Gillard Government – unless you’re willing (and able) to restrict your electricity consumption to the hours between 10pm and 7am. Under the plan put forward, so-called smart meters would be rolled out across NSW, with the potential to hit pensioners and self-funded retirees at the hip pocket. What are smart meters? A smart meter is an electronic meter that records how much electricity is used by a household, with different tariffs for different times throughout the day. They are capable of remote communication which allows the meter owner or electricity supplier to send or collect information directly from the meter. ... While Energy Australia has stated that 70 per cent of households would be better off with smart meters, research by St Vincent de Paul has shown that smart meters impose significant increases for those on pensions. ... Now, under their new name, Ausgrid, they are conducting trials in Newcastle, Scone, Ku-ring-gai and the Sydney CBD hoping to make a case for more smart meter deployments. CPSA cannot see justification in extending the roll-out of a flawed system. Surely the Government and energy providers can recognise that pensioners have been hit with enough rises in electricity costs and that they should not punish those that spend more time in the home. |
For an approach that may create an incentive for energy consumers such as pensioners and self-funded retirees, see the related post New Smart Energy Incentives.
Low-cost technology for consumer-controlled smart energy
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