You’ve probably heard about smart meters, but we thought we’d give you a bit more info on what makes a smart meter smarter.

Smarter grid.

The National Grid pipes your gas and electricity to your homes and businesses. A smart meter provides the data to tell the grid what the energy demands are around the country. If more energy is needed somewhere in particular, it can more easily be redirected. This also improves energy efficiency as it reduces energy waste and delivers a more accurate amount to households.

Smarter habits.

• Automatic readings. The smart meter can securely send automatic meter readings at regular intervals to your energy company. The frequency of this is up to you. It can be as often as every half hour and it requires little interaction from you and is easy to set up.
• Track your usage. The display on your smart meter allows you to track what you’re using 24/7. It’s a great way to help budget more effectively.
• Speaking of budgets… You can set a daily, weekly or even, monthly, budget on your IHD (in-home display). This means you won’t go over your budget, but instead, keep track of your spending to help motivate you to reduce your energy use. If your smart meter is set to prepay, it will also automatically alert you when it is time to top up, whether you set a budget or not.

Smarter future.

Last winter we took part in the National Grid’s new initiative, the Demand Flexibility Service. Customers with a smart meter set to send half hourly meter readings, were eligible to take part in the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service events with us. Our events encouraged customers to reduce their energy use for short periods at peak times by paying them based on how much they reduced their usage. The service is now closed for winter 2022/23, but you can check out some of the incredible achievements we made together this winter on our Save energy with #EnergyShift blog.

Having a smart meter means you’ll also be eligible for a wider variety of tariffs too, including the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). SEG is a government obligation for larger suppliers to offer an export tariff that pays customers for excess electricity that they send back to the grid from renewable technologies such as solar panels. Learn more about earning money from your solar panels with our SEG tariff.

Smart meter technology opens up new possibilities for the future of energy tariffs, so watch this space. So if you want to take control of your energy with a smart meter and know how much you're using in pounds and pence, then register your interest.

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Published: 05/06/23