1. SMARTER CUSTOMERS –
SMART METERING AS AN ENABLER
Simon Harrison, Product, Innovation, Technology and Trialling
Manager, RWE npower Smart Programme

2. Set the scene for the day
Who are smart customers?
How is the world changing?
What role could smart metering play?

3. Not going to review charts or research – there are plenty of
opportunities to engage with the latest views
Provoke by challenging some of the assumptions and
accepted thinking in this space
Not sure if there are answers to these questions, but I’d like
to meet the people who believe they have some
Most of this content reflects my opinion, and certainly
shouldn’t be taken as the official RWE npower position

4. smart customer (def):
1. erm, A customer who’s smart…?
2. or, one with some smart stuff in their home?

5. What do today’s
smart customers
look like?

6. They could be
checking their
energy bills...

7. Everyone uses energy – smart energy
should be as accessible as all the other
smart technologies

8. If we can’t define a smarter customer by working out
who they are, can we work out what they want?

9. Smart
Energy
Cost
Convenience
Confidence
Comfort

10. Nobody wants to spend more than
they should, but it is not the #1 priority
for all consumers
Cost
Using sensors and controls to
automate the unnecessarily repetitive
Convenience
Is my home safe, is it locked, is it
secure, who’s at home?
Confidence
Is my home warm (or cool)? Is it light?
Turn my music on…
Comfort
We all want the same things – it is the proportions that vary

11. I want my smart home
to give me more time
with my family
I’m a gadget
snob, I like to
show off
Smart
Energy
Cost
Convenience
Confidence
Comfort
Did I switch
the iron off?

12. I don’t trust all this
technology, especially
not in my home
I love this stuff, where
do I sign up for a
hoverboard?
It’s all boys and their
expensive toys, isn’t it?
I like the idea, but how
much fiddling will I
have to do?

13. I don’t trust all this
technology, especially
not in my home
I love this stuff, where do I
sign up for a hoverboard?
It’s all boys and their
expensive toys, isn’t it?
I like the idea, but
how much fiddling
will I have to do?
Many different customers will live in the same house
Who or what makes it a smart home?

14. I know I said that I didn’t want that
gadget, but actually, now I’ve seen it,
can I have it? And I’ve told my friends
about it too…
I’m over my 2 month old
gadget, what else do you
have that’s new?

15. The future is here
and it’s accessible
and affordable
Absolutely
Pointless
Absolutely
Brilliant

16. We all know someone who still uses this, and
says – “all I need a phone to be is a phone”

17. At the same time, there are plenty of us waiting for our
Google Glasses and the chance to be Tony Stark

18. Conclusion (or assumption) – people’s taste in smart home
technology will be as individual as their taste in home design

19. smart customer (def):
1. Could be anyone, is everyone.
2. Has requirements and expectations that evolve.
3. Doesn’t know the future.
4. Is unique.
5. Is ready for change, expects and desires change
A smart customer is actually the technology user – not
the commodity consumer we’ve known for decades.
The same person, but with very different drivers

20. The role of smart meters in a smart home

21. Smart meters are
intended to be the
foundation of the new
smart grid – providing
energy insight and
control to users and
operators
But are they really the
heroes of the smart
home?

22. 2006 2014
In the beginning, smart meters were the key to
our energy future – is this still the case 8 years,
and too few meters, later?

23. 2007 Smart
Meter
Design
begins
2015 Mass
Roll Out
Begins
2020 50
million meter
Roll Out
Complete
A significant achievement – implementing a new
national infrastructure to every home and business
–improving customer service, energy operations and
facilitating material cost savings
Utility Context

24. 2007 Smart
Meter
Design
2015 Mass
Roll Out
Begins
2020 50
million meter
Roll Out
Complete
2007 iPhone
launch –
smart phone
<5%
2014 smart
phone
@75% in
GB
2017 smart
phone
forecast over
80% in GB
2010 –
ipad Launch
– tablet at
0%
2014 –
tablet
adoption at
50%
2020 –
forecasts
unknown!
How relevant will smart meters be to the customers of 2020?
Has the moment passed before it happened?
Technology Context

25. The installation of 50m
meters is a massive
undertaking in GB, and
a bigger effort across
Europe. Creating jobs,
improving service,
building out enormous
networks.
But for most customers,
the smart meter
experience could be…

26. Smart meters essentially deliver the service
that 21st century customers expect.
Accurate bills, better service, instant feedback.
The novelty of an IHD does not last long

27. How much further could smart meter
technology develop?

28. What will be first for the majority of customers – smart
meters or the smart home? Will we be retrofitting our
meters into an existing connected home?
What makes the smart meters special? What can their data
provide that other sensors cannot? Smart plugs (or circuits or
sockets) can give detailed insight that meters cannot
Who will customers trust with their smart home, smart
sensors and smart data? Can we expect the right to be their
smart partner?

29. Once installed, the meters themselves will become a
commodity again, one of the worker bees of the energy
industry, rather than the centre of attention they have
been for the past few years
But, providing they are accessible, interoperable and
standards based, the data smart meters provide can
support some very interesting propositions
Energy usage and pricing data has a key role to play in the
smart home of the future – but it has to be available and
reliable, smart customers have no patience

30. CH
Smart Meters in a Smart Home Setting
Scope of Smart Programme
Scope of Smart Innovation
E G
Smart Meters
DCC
IHD
Internet
Light
Heat
Wash
Clean
Chill
Safe
Secure
Cook
Fun
CAD ADSL
1
1
The mandated smart architecture
provides customerswith aggregated
information on energy – in realtime
in the home and at D+1 or later via
web or apps
2
2 New smart products willenable
Customers to interact with their
energy use in a new way
The link to smart metering is not
mandatory, but is the unique
opportunity for Energy Retailers to
own this space.
Insight
Control
Action
Automatic
On
Demand
At device/circuit level
Rules based - Binary,
Scheduled, Responsive
Hardware, Plugs,
Sensors
Rules and actions
applied to the
controls
Savings, Comfort,
Convenience, Trust
Outcomes for
individuals
3
3
4
4
Products, Services and Partners to help customers
understand and control their energy usage.
There is a risk of Customers
providing their data to 3rd party
service providers
And an opportunity for npower to
provide product and services to non-
energy customers
5
5

31. Where can we go?

32. Are we all second guessing what customers want?
What do utilities want? Do we really want to own the smart
home? Are we equipped to deliver against the competition
in this space?
How do we use the smart data to tell customers a compelling
story? Does that make them more or less inclined to treat us
as the commodity providers that we are?
The key will be finding the products and services adjacent to
the commodity that engage our customers and deliver value

33. CONCLUSION…SUMMARY…In Closing
Issue here might actually be the word ‘smart’ – it is too
easy a label to apply to everything and is in danger of
becoming meaningless
Smart metering is important, but needs to be
positioned carefully in a broader strategy that covers
smart services, homes, grids and cities
The speakers throughout the rest of the day should
help to provide some insight into the road ahead…

34. Any Questions?
simon.harrison@npower.com +44 7572 871809 @raygunsimon
THANK YOU