esaa welcomes Victorian Governments decision on smart metering

14 December 2011

The Energy Supply Association of Australia has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to continue with its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) – smart metering – program rollout.

esaa’s Interim CEO Clare Savage said the industry was pleased the Government  has recognised smart meters could help households to better manage their energy use.

“Smart metering’s benefits range from simple efficiencies such as avoiding the need for routine and special meter reads, to more complex benefits such as a more efficient use of the system reducing the need for costly infrastructure upgrades,” Ms Savage said.

“AMI’s impact goes well beyond the most visible part of the program, the meters – it also includes increased flexibility and understanding of the network that can be delivered by the improvements in information and communications technology.

“This means improved identification of faults and their causes and better and more detailed information about the stress points on the network which can reduce the need for investment in network capacity and in ongoing maintenance costs.

Ms Savage said consumer behaviour is also crucial.

“Finding a way to flatten demand peaks and increase use in off-peak times would minimise the need for costly upgrades to the system in the future to cater for relatively few days of very high demand,” she said.

“Smart meters create a platform which can provide timely information about consumption patterns and greater flexibility for households to manage variable time of day supply costs.”


Ends.

Media contact:    Caroline Page     0421 103 089

The Energy Supply Association of Australia seeks to positively influence government policy decisions to ensure that Australia enjoys the benefits of a safe, secure, reliable, sustainable and competitively priced electricity and natural gas supply.

esaa’s 40-plus member businesses have more than $120 billion in assets and infrastructure investment plans worth over $49 billion over the next five years. The Association is fuel and technology neutral and member businesses have investments across a wide range of fossil fuel and renewable generation technologies.