Four major energy suppliers, EDF Energy, E.ON, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy, are leading trials examining how customers respond to better information about their energy consumption. The project is funded by £10m from the Government, matched by equivalent funding from the companies.
The trials are being managed by Ofgem on behalf of the Government.
Several different ways of making customers more aware of their energy usage are being tested through the trials including:
- smart electricity and gas meters
- real-time display devices, which show energy use in pounds and pence
- additional billing information;
- monthly billing;
- energy efficiency information; and
- community engagement.
The trials are made up of different combinations of these actions and are exploring the responses of around 50,000 different households. There will be smart meters in around 18,000 houses and real-time display devices in about 8,000 homes.
The results should provide information on which of these actions help customers reduce energy consumption and over what timescales this is achieved. The trial will also look at how these reductions have been achieved (e.g. in heating, lighting or other energy efficiency measures). It will also assess the impacts on different households, including the disadvantaged.
The trials were announced in July 2007 and suppliers began recruitment and set-up later that year. The trials will last two years, but as different trial elements began at different times and most will cover at least two summers and two winters, final reporting will not be complete until Autumn 2010. In the meantime, reports will be available approximately every six months.