The smart journey to net zero

Benefits to you

Save time

Your smart meter will automatically record and securely send your electricity usage data, in near-real time, to your supplier. In turn, your supplier will be able to generate more accurate bills.

This means you won’t have to note down and submit your own, manual meter readings – or wait for an agent to arrive and take the reading for you. It also eliminates the chance of human error, which can lead to overpaying or spending additional time resolving reading anomalies.

Your supplier will be able to detect smart meter errors remotely too. This avoids you having to report potential issues and wait for an agent to visit your premises to resolve them.

The net result is more time for you to focus on whatever adds the most value to your organisation – without unnecessary distractions and hassle.

Enable cost savings

The accurate data your smart meter provides will help your supplier prepare bills based on your consumption rather than on estimates.

There aren’t any extra setup or installation costs either . So, agree to the smart meter switch and soon you’ll only be paying for the energy you’ve used.

Your smart meter data will also help you understand:

• When you use the most electricity
• Whether the peaks in your electricity use coincide with the times at which electricity’s more expensive
• The value of shifting your consumption patterns
• How much money you could save

In time, and on a smart grid, the UK will move from daily, weekly or monthly meter readings to half-hourly ones. This will give organisations more granular data on which to plan cost-saving energy optimisation. Smart meters are fitted with the technology to enable these regular readings.

Measure sustainability success

Most of us want to help reduce our personal and professional impact on the environment. Some organisations reflect this approach in their values or mission statement. Many include it within their corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives – including targets for CO₂ emission reductions and other sustainability metrics.

If you’re installing renewable generation assets like solar panels or wind turbines, smart meters will enable you to measure and compare your energy usage before and after installation. These measurements and comparisons will show exactly how much you generate and how much energy you take from the UK grid. This information can also help you calculate the impact on your carbon emissions in order to prove the value of sustainability investments internally and promote your sustainability credentials externally.

The same goes for EV initiatives like vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging. If you’re able to use your EVs’ batteries for electricity storage – and sell energy back to the Grid when demand’s high – you can generate a new revenue stream. To participate in these schemes, you’ll need a smart meter to communicate what charge your vehicles need and when. It’ll also help you track the impact of your V2G activities.

It’s also possible that, if you’re still on non-renewable energy supply, minimising your electricity use to cut costs will also reduce the carbon emissions your organisation’s responsible for.

Open the door to flexibility

By changing your consumption patterns to avoid times of high energy demand and the resulting high costs, you can save money.

But, by responding to Grid requests to consume less (or generate more) electricity at certain times, you can earn significant financial rewards. The Demand Flexibility Scheme (DFS), which launched in November 2022, has proved the willingness of UK organisations to respond to such requests. Through it, we saved our participating customers nearly £1.2 million during the winter of 2023/24.

Smart meters enable you to participate in flexibility schemes such as the DFS as they record the necessary half-hourly readings.

Benefits to the Grid

The UK’s generation and consumption of energy is changing

Traditionally, the nation relied on a centralised, fossil-fuel-based electricity generation system to help National Grid, as the system operator, balance supply and demand.

Now, the power needs of multiple industries (and millions of consumers) are more complex and varied than ever before. There are additional ways to generate electricity, as well as a high number of generators. The Government’s decision to stop using coal means that the UK’s more reliant on renewable power sources – particularly wind and solar.

The complication of intermittency

While wind and solar sources are more environmentally friendly than conventional fossil-fuelled power, it’s difficult to control how much energy they produce. The wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. And it’s not yet practical to store – at least at a national scale – any excess energy for later use.

The unreliable nature of intermittent wind and solar generation makes it much harder for National Grid to perform the necessary second-by-second balancing of the system. It also explains why other renewable sources like biomass are now an integral part of the UK energy mix.

Granular readings help balancing

As smart meters produce more regular, more accurate readings, they give National Grid a far more detailed view of the nation’s consumption and generation. A smart grid will make the Grid’s job of balancing supply and demand – even with higher-than-ever demand and intermittent energy sources driving supply – more predictable and therefore more manageable.

Benefits to the UK’s net zero journey

Inviting more renewables

Due to the support that smart meters and a smart grid provide to balance supply and demand, National Grid can connect more renewable generation. This helps grow the percentage of renewables powering the Grid. In 2023, zero carbon energy sources provided over half of the UK’s electricity requirements for the first time.

Accelerating towards sustainability targets

The higher proportions of renewables in the UK’s electricity mix encourages generators to invest in more renewables assets.

And shifting towards renewables propels us closer to our targets of all electricity coming from 100% zero-carbon generation by 2035, and a net zero UK by 2050.

To find out more about how smart meters can help your organisation, visit our website or call 01473 852740. And, whether you’re a Drax customer or not, you can join the smart revolution by registering your interest in smart meters today.