Power meters considered not so smart

It will cost an estimated $400 million to replace the nation's electricity meters with hi-tech "smart meters", which could one day turn off appliances at peak time to save people money.

But the Electricity Commission says New Zealand must keep tabs on overseas technology before setting rules around smart meters' implementation here.

The commission's chairman, David Caygill, addressed a parliamentary select committee last week.

The commission is due to report to Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee next month on whether there needs to be minimum technical standards around their use.

Mr Caygill said the technology around smart meters was still developing overseas. New Zealand needed to adopt the best of that technology in the future, instead of setting its own regulations now.

New Zealand had an estimated 0.2 per cent of the world's electricity meters, and it would cost about $400m to replace them.

Smart meters were currently being rolled out around the country, but not at a cost to customers.

The new hi-tech meters could work with variable price plans, letting people choose when to use the most power, and ultimately save money.

It was also possible that people would use less energy if they were aware of how much they were using, which would reduce carbon emissions.

Electrical appliances that turned themselves off when power prices were at their highest were also in the pipeline, once the technology had been developed for them to communicate with smart meters, Mr Caygill said.

The select committee also heard from lines company Vector's commercial manager of metering, David Stroud.

He said the meters that were being fitted now would be able to be retrofitted with the newly developing technology. New meters already removed the need for contractors to read meters on site, or the need for estimated bills, he said.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright released a report into the possible benefits of smart meters this year.

However, she said many of those being installed would not live up to their name.

Critics of smart meters have voiced concerns that they will lead poorer households to switch off their power when it is highly priced, while others say it will be expensive to retrofit technology to the meters that are currently being installed.

That technology has also been described by critics as still being a long way off.

SMART METERS

* Record and show how much electricity you use, as you use it.

* Remotely send readings to power companies.

* Display electricity tariffs that vary at different times.

- © Fairfax NZ News