A lot has been said about smart metering becoming one of the key M2M application area. Smart metering works via Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) - a technology that enables each power meter to transmit information from its own IP address. Just like any other connected device, a smart meter connects to the cloud via wireless connectivity using its IP address, and sends and receives information. The smart meter is able to continuously update information on total power consumed, peak times of consumption and other consumption information. Smart meters are installed at customer premises and are provided by the respective utility service providers in collaboration with mobile network operators/service providers. The AMI is touted as a technology that will enable users to monitor their power usage and make better consumption decisions while providing utility companies better control in managing their resources, attending to outages and responding to surges in demand.
We looked at some recent implementations of AMI 'smart meters' - one by the Public Service Company of Oklahama (PSO), a utilities company which is an arm of American Electric Power, which is implementing smart metering for Oklahama on a USD130 million project that covers 30,000 square mile service territory. PSO's smart metering project will see 520,000 existing electric meters being replaced with new AMI meters by the fourth quarter of 2016. PSO said in its statement in October this year that the smart meters will cost residential customers USD3.11 per month but foresees customers benefitting from web accessible account and energy usage information, enhanced energy management, improved outage restoration and enhanced customer service. Smart metering has been implemented much earlier in some states such as California whereby San Diego Gas & Electric replaced 1.4 million electric meters with smart meters on top of adding advanced communications to 900,000 natural gas meters way back in 2007.
The AMI smart meter technology however could not deliver its full potential until recently when smart mobile devices have enabled customers to access the information provided by smart meters remotely. At the same time, the development of smart home mobile applications that integrate a host of smart devices within a building and which boast easy-to-access-and-use interfaces are paving way towards facilitating end-users to monitor and control their appliances and devices, thus enabling them to manage their power consumption in real-time. With better M2M platforms that can integrate the information collected by smart meters to other business/industrial applications and systems and the availability of enhanced user interface and more control functionalities on end-user applications, the demand for smart metering is expected to start picking up in coming years across residential and industrial markets and is predicted to be one of the areas service providers will be looking into for the expansion of their IoT/M2M business.