Smart Gas Meters can enable consumers to save energy and money. If we pay attention to customer interaction this customer value can be greatly enhanced. Presentation held at European Utility Week 2014 in Amsterdam

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Smart Gas Meter Deployment and Customer Value in the Netherlands Smarter gas meters add more customer value
Gerrit Rentier
Senior Business Process Analyst DELTA Energy & Multimedia
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
November 6th, 2014

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Presentation outline
Introduction: DELTA N.V.
Mandated Roll-Out: rolling out at scale
DNO Tenders for Smart Gas Meters
Smart metering in the Netherlands
Smart meters: mono-utility vs. multi-utility: Dual fuel roll out, better national business case
Dutch Smart Meter Requirements for Gas meters No remote on/off (no prepay) All wireless; Firmware upgrades
Customer value: more frequent information
Frequency of customer info From conventional meters to smart homes
Smarter Gas meters: 5 minute updates Customer value vs. battery life time
Questions

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Introduction: DELTA N.V.
•DELTA N.V. is a municipal multi-utility company. Shareholders: Province of Zeeland & local municipalities.
•Production, Trade, Supply B2B of Electricity and Gas
•Largest Dutch player in renewable energy (PPA Gemini wind turbines, 600 MW) + several power plants (bio mass, nuclear & natural gas);
•Waste management services (“Indaver”), Water (“Evides”)
•Locally; internet, (digital) TV, retail energy and water;
•DELTA Netwerkgroep (“DNWG”); maintenance of infrastructure water, gas, electricity & cable, incorporating a Distribution Network Operator (“DNO”).
•DNWG Metering and utility services (nationally)
As a municipal multi-utility it is in the nature of DELTA to focus on added stakeholder value including sustainability in a multi-utility approach
Multi-utility, synergy; “Connect” (“verbindt”)!

4. After delay about legislation concerning privacy/opt out and after a 2 year trial period (to examine effects), June 2014 Dutch government decides on a mandated smart meter roll-out, in line with EU Directives
4
Mandated roll-out: rolling out at scale
Source: roll-out plan Netbeheer Nederland (NBNL), Dutch Distribution Network Operators
2013 & 2014 600.000 DSMR 2.2 Currently DSMR 4.0 2016: DSMR 5 Target: 8,4 mln homes

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DNO tenders for smart meters
Distribution Network Operators in the Netherlands are united: interest group “Netbeheer Nederland” (“NBNL”).
NBNL jointly developed “Dutch Smart Meter Requirements” (“DSMR”) versions 2.2 and 4.0.
However, for the definitive version (includes all requirements demanded by Parliament, including e.g. full interaction logs readable from display, modularity) there are two major tenders; 1: Alliander, Stedin, DNWG: joint tender based on CDMA telecommunications (point-to-point) 2: Enexis et al: tender based on 3G PLC (Power Line Carrier)

6. Smart Metering in the Netherlands
“P1- device”
(Energy management
display, APP, tablet
etc)
P1
G-meter
W-meter
Heat
meter
P2
Central
system
GSM
network
P3
P2
Energy
suppliers
ODA’s
Water companies
P4
P2 = Local connection (“LAN”); Smart Gas meter
(or other slave meter) to Smart Electricity meter,
which acts as a communication hub
P1= Consumer port information in the home
(“HAN”), updated every 10 seconds for
Electricity, every 60 minutes for Gas
Distribution Network Operator (DNO) rolls out
smart E and G meters, facilitates markets
P3= Wide Area Network (“WAN”)
P4= market interface for ESCO’s, Energy
Suppliers, aggregators; updated every 24 hours

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Smart meters: mono-utility vs. multi-utility/Cost Benefit Analysis
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
Meters
Roll out
ICT
Energy
saving
Better
Processes
Dynamic
Tariffs
Rough Cost benefit analysis for Smart meter roll out
Mono-utility roll out: no synergy effects; each appointment in the field, each truck roll, each telecommunication cost (WAN) associated with 1 utility service (often: Electricity)
Multi-utility roll out: synergy effects; each appointment in the field, truck roll, tele- communication cost associated with 2 utility services  better Cost Benefit Analysis

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Few EU member states roll out smart gas meters
Roll-out commitments for European Union investment about €45 billion by 2020 for the installation of close to 200 million smart meters for Electricity (about 72% of all European consumers) and 45 million meters for Gas (around 40% of consumers)
"Benchmarking Smart Metering Deployment in the EU-27 with a focus on electricity” (adopted June 17th, 2014)

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Less attention to smart gas meters; but why?
However, Smart Meter Program Key Success Factor Number 1 (© Accenture) is
“Design and deploy with the consumer at the heart of the solution…” and the biggest impact on the energy bill of many consumers is their gas use..  shouldn’t we pay full attention to how we design & roll out Smart Gas Meters?
From the report “Benchmarking Smart Metering Deployment in the EU-27” (page 8): - Five Member States (Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the UK) have decided to roll-out smart gas meters by 2020 or earlier; - Two Member States (France and Austria) have plans to proceed with a large-scale roll- out but have yet to take official decisions; (Note: after June, in September 2014, France has decided to roll out smart gas meters..)
- In 12 Member States (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden), the results of the Cost Benefit Analysis were negative.

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Gas; by far the largest item on Dutch consumer’s energy bill
Average Dutch Household Energy Bill (about € 1800 a year)
wash & dry Electricity
lighting Electricity
fridge & freezer Electricity
heating Water Electricity
other uses Electricity
space heating Gas
bathroom heating Gas
cooking Gas

11. LAN (local “P2” interface to E-meter): Gas meters battery powered  concern battery life time: past anxiety after research in 2012 by Tadiran & NBNL http://goo.gl/xTzyga  All wireless; MBUS 868 MHz; no wired connections:  Installation & maintenance faster, simpler, cheaper No remote on/off  No integrated valve, Less T2 (two-way) Concerns of cyber security with DNO’s  no remote on/off  Hardly any two way  T2 merely for time sync once per day and for firmware upgrades; Mode “T1/T2” sufficient for utility’s processes;  No possibility for prepay, fraud prevention, emergency shut off WAN (through P2); firmware upgrades  DSMR specifies DLMS CoSEM for WAN (“P3”) HAN (through P2): consumer interface “P1”  Mode C (“Compact Mode”) will suffice for P1 events  updates every 5 minutes instead of every 60 minutes  …
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Dutch Smart Meter Requirements for Gas meters

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Energy transition & “always on” means new roles for meters

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Behavioral Energy Efficiency = First Fuel
With a proper behavioral approach we can have smart meters help customers save money (and the environment). ACEEE: “Combined natural gas and electric utility energy efficiency programs score expanded savings” http://goo.gl/v5JRJV Energy efficiency programs covering Electricity as well as Gas (“Dual Fuel”) prove to be more effective!

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Potential of smart meters for conservation: feedback types
ACEEE report shows up to 9 or even 12 percent conservation for energy if the information is near real time.
ACEEE report shows up to 9 or even 12 percent conservation for energy if the information is near real time…
Smart meters can technically enable the first four categories of feedback loops…
“Advanced meter reading initiatives and residential feedback programs: A Meta-Review for Household Electricity- saving Opportunities”, American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Washington, June 2010

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Psychological basis: experiential learning
If we present actionable information (“concrete experience”) based on recent smart meter data that tells consumers where they are spending energy (and money), leading to observation and comprehension, then they are enabled to try and save energy (“active experimentation”), in heating, hot water and appliances.

16. (A) Meters Regulatory; Energy Efficiency Directive Bills
(B) Smart meters Regulatory; Energy Efficiency Directive Home Reports
(C) Smart meter remote (WAN) Web portals
(D) Smart meter with device in the home (HAN) In Home Displays
(E)”
Smart meters
with device in the
home and near
real time data, also
from slave meters
(DSMR 5: 2016,..)
Home Area Network “Niche”
(F) Smart thermostats/ remote control HAN & WAN
(Nest, GEO, Honeywell etc) Smart home
E
Year
Monthly (bi-monthly)
Daily
10 seconds
1 second (DSMR 5: 2016)
Real time
G
Year
Monthly (bi-monthly)
Daily
60 minutes (DSMR 2, 4)
5 minutes (DSMR 5: 2016)
Real time
€
Free
Free
Free or Cheap
Medium price (+/- 100, 150)
Plain read only
customer devices
Pricey Device +/- 250/350
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Frequency of customer info; from meters to smart homes
If we upgrade the frequency by which smart gas meters inform consumers of their energy use, the smart meter functionality closes in on more expensive smart home solutions

17.  Dutch consumer groups, energy sector & government agencies: make smart gas meter information available consumer interface (“P1”) with a higher frequency than every 60 minutes.
 Evaluation of the 2 year trial period for smart meter roll out early 2014; agreed among Distribution Network Operators (responsible for roll out) & all other stakeholders:
 DSMR 5 features 5 minute updates from smart gas meters to consumers.
This was confirmed by Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp in answers to the Dutch parliament (April 7th, 2014, question 29)
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DSMR 5 (2016); consumers get 5 minute updates on Gas use

18. [A] NBNL “Battery research study”, October 10, 2012, Metering & Billing, By Machiel Joosse (DNWB) & Horst Reuning (Tadiran)  modern day batteries’ life time is a lot better than some fear. http://goo.gl/xTzyga [B] DSMR 5 smart meters for E & G without the remote (dis)connect  No need for hourly two-way (T2) communication between G-meter and E-meter to check for connect/disconnect commands.  Simple one-way T1 communication will suffice  we move towards “C1”, Compact Mode (NL Smart Meter Requirements version 5, 2016).
[C] Also/alternatively; rationalize communication design between local meters. E.g., in the middle of the night, either move to 2-hour P2- updates or even stop local RF updates altogether during night time(*) ((*) they don’t add any value; customers won’t be awake to be informed, utility processes don’t need those updates for Gas either).
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Implications gas meter battery life time

19. DSMR 5 (2016) Gas meters deliver more customer value
DSMR 5 P1 “Consumer port” 
information in the Home Area Network
will be
updated every second for Electricity
updated every 5 minutes for Gas
 customers get much more frequent
information on the cause
of the bigger part of
their energy bill
 more information
means more choices
 more customer
value from smart
meters through
making the architecture
for smart gas meters even smarter..
“P1- device”
(Energy management
display, APP, tablet
etc)
P1
G-meter
W-meter
Heat
meter
P2

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Questions?