Smart metering 'to cut gas and electricity bills'
30 October 2009 11:57:06
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| Google has stepped into the gas and electricity market. |
The Energy Retail Association said today (October 30th) that the search engine's internet PowerMeter is part of a general energy market trend which will "revolutionise" the sector.
Smart meters track how much energy a household is using in real time, allowing people to compare gas and electricity consumption, identify points of intensive use and improve their overall energy efficiency.
Therefore, the devices can help to reduce gas and electricity bills over the long term.
Google's PowerMeter, which can be activated either by a customer switching to energy supplier First Utility or by clipping a £70 device to existing power meters, provides graphs of real-time energy consumption to householders' computers.
The government also plans to replace conventional meters with smart meters in every UK home by 2020 through a £7bn joint scheme with energy suppliers.
Peter Jenkins, head of communications and public affairs at the Energy Retail Association, said: "Smart meters will revolutionise the way customers think about and pay for their energy."
He added: "Customers will be able to see where they can make changes to their behaviour in order to save energy, and save money. The sooner customers get smart meters, the sooner they will be able to save."
Recent analysis from Ofgem suggested that the typical annual energy bill could rise by up to 25% above inflation by 2020.
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