Market Solutions - Smart Metering

Field Service Software for Smart Metering Implementations

Smart Metering is one of the hottest topics in the Energy & Utilities market. There are many reasons behind this drive towards the adoption of smart meters ranging from the need to balance supply and demand to the need to reduce carbon emissions.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission predicts that by 2012, 89% of U.S. households and 41% of European households will have Smart Meters, sparked by emerging legislation calling for energy conservation.

Smart Meters are digital devices that provide real-time, or near real-time, accurate electricity/ Gas/ Water usage information to both utilities and their customers over different time periods and with different communication infrastructure.

Using Smart Meters enables the accurate visibility of energy consumption providing the following benefits:

• More accurate customer bills which limit customer queries and improve customer experience
• Customers can better plan their power consumption.
• Flexible tariffs that can be changed quickly, easily and cheaply to encourage demand reduction or time shifting.
• Improved and optimized grid management
• Improved load capacity and, therefore, improve investment decisions.
• Fraud detection
• Environmentally Friendly - contributing to a reduction in overall consumption and a corresponding decrease in carbon dioxide emissions.
• Alternative communications into the building, enabling the utility to offer home management services.

Utilities around the world are investigating the requirements to roll out such meter replacement projects. No matter how large or small the project, utilities need to take into consideration the potential impacts of such a radical change, including the rising need for crews and subcontractors, a high risk for missed appointments, more repairs and emergencies caused by improperly installed meters, frustrated customers who don't know how to use the Smart Meters, and other challenges.

ClickSoftware has worldwide experience with utilities and offers an integrated, automatic solution that meets all of the needs regarding the implementation of a Smart Metering project. This solution is designed to shorten the whole process which, in turn, minimizes the risk and cost of the replacement project.