Smart energy management for non-domestic buildings: Case studies of two local authorities in the UK

Panel: 3. Local action

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Marouane Azennoud, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Graeme Stuart, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Richard Bull, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Mark Lemon, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Darren Perry, Northamptonshire County Council, United Kingdom

Abstract

The use of smart meters has increased since the beginning of the 21st century. The UK government, for example, has recently initiated a programme of rolling out 53 million smart electricity and gas meters for homes and small businesses by 2020 with the expectation that €20 billion will be saved on energy bills over the coming 15 years.

The UK’s mass deployment of smart meters has resulted in Local Authorities experiencing additional costs from their installation in their non-domestic buildings, including the costs of new data collection and reporting systems. As a consequence, energy managers are increasingly being forced to consider the ideal frequency for collecting and reporting energy data, appropriate methods for processing that data and the need to rely on ‘real-time’ energy data when there are several other ways in which energy data can be accessed (bills, direct readings, etc.). Finally, what are the realistic expectations about the financial savings attributable to the installation of smart meters?

This paper seeks to address these questions through two case studies which examine the effects of the smart meter roll-out programme on two separate UK Local Authorities, Northamptonshire County Council and Leicester City Council.