Every British home set to get remote energy meters.

“Every home in the country is to get new “smart” power meters so that the gas and electricity use can be monitored remotely 24 hours a day.

Britain’s big six power companies intend to create a new company to oversee the installation of 26 million new electricity meters and 20 million new gas meters, beginning by the end of next year, The Times has learnt. Thousands of meter-reading jobs will be lost.

The project, which is expected to start next year and cost up to £10 billion, is thought to be about to get government approval and a variety of options on how it should work are likely to be announced soon after the Budget on April 22.

Most homes will have two meters which will feed into a single modem to allow remote access. The energy companies hope that the new equipment will not only encourage fuel conservation but also allow them to introduce new tariffs, rewarding customers for running appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers in the middle of the night.”

Since the story was released on Saturday, the announcement has already resulted in comments from the public in praise and highlighting questions around privacy, lack of vision and the ultimate cost to the public.

Further Information

For further information and comments see www.timesonline.co.uk