Thoughts

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The Role of Smart Metering in Slaying the Blackout Monster

Thoughts

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    EVORA

Though the forecast for this week is mild, the current winter has seen the cold bite, and cold weather usually means more demand on power.

You may recall doom mongering headlines over the past few years predicting power blackouts as the National Grid would struggle to meet demand over the winter months. However, so far no such episodes have occurred. Steve Holliday, the former head of the National Grid, appeared on BBC News on Monday morning to defend the National Grid and endorse the Government’s latest capacity auctions for power generation to ensure supply.

Mr Holliday also pointed to several factors enabling the Grid to provide an efficient capacity, including Smart metering. This follows his comments in the Telegraph last year that metering for businesses will contribute four-fifths of the potential energy savings from smart control technology.

EVORA recognises the important role smart metering already plays in reducing energy consumption. As well as providing strategic advice in the provision of smart metering technology in buildings, EVORA has developed a Monitoring and Targeting (M&T) feature in SIERA, its sustainability management software, to help businesses visualise, be notified by, and act upon smart meter data.  This software takes in raw half-hourly data from source meters and presents practical graphical analysis to the end user supported by alerts and custom overlays, giving clear insight to reduce energy wastage.

The process of acquiring data and creating insightful and meaningful reporting is at the centre of our strategy for SIERA. The impact of Big Data and how EVORA is using it to deliver performance and value to businesses is set out in my last blog post.

The use of technology in energy consumption has never been greater as all parts of the energy supply chain, from power generators and the National Grid to consumers rely more and more on software and the Internet of Things to create an accurate picture of consumption that they can act upon. We see SIERA as part of this effort and look to work with our clients to constantly improve its capabilities in this field.

We are also pleased to hear that the lights aren’t going to go out… well, so we’ve been told.


To learn more about SIERA, or to request a demo, please contact us today.