The Government has asked the public about smart meters, and found that it is generally positive, but needs help in understanding the subject.
For example, the survey indicates that half of energy bill-payers living in Great Britain had heard of smart meters, with one in twenty claiming that they have one installed.
“The ownership figure is clearly an overestimate, which the report authors believe is principally due to some respondents failing to understand what a smart meter is despite the explanation provided,” said the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
32% expressed support for the installation of smart meters in every home in the country, while 20% were opposed.
48% of all respondents are undecided about smart meters.
42% of those without a smart meter in their home were interested in having one installed.
“Support for smart meters, and interest in installation, were both highly correlated to age and size of household; with younger and larger households expressing greater support and interest,” said DECC. “The perceived benefits of having a smart meter installed included being able to better manage household finances [33%], to help avoid waste [26%] and produce a greater accuracy of billing [19%].”
Perceived disadvantages included cost (either to themselves, the taxpayer, the government or the energy companies) (19%) and data security (10%).
The more respondents felt they knew about smart meters the more likely they were to support their roll-out and want one.
Conducted by Mori, the survey was the first of three, and involved face-to-face interviews within 2,396 homes.
“The UK has genuinely learnt from the large consumer backlash experienced in the US market that early customer engagement is key to success,” commented Dr Mark England, CEO of UK smart meter maker Sentec. “The report has found that the more respondents felt they knew about smart meters, the more likely they were to support the rollout, highlighting once again that if the rollout is to be a success, it is imperative that it remains consumer-focused and that any confusion or lack of knowledge is avoided.”
The report, ‘Quantitative Research into Public Awareness, Attitudes, and Experience of Smart Meters (Wave 1 of 3)’ can be downloaded freely from DECC’s website.
