Cheung Chi-fai, SCMP – Apr 13, 2009
About 20,000 businesses that use large amounts of power, such as restaurants and hotels, will have their meters replaced with “smart” ones that will enable them to monitor their consumption online, Hongkong Electric (SEHK: 0006) has announced.
The data fed by the meter to a business’ computer network can help the business come up with ways to reduce energy bills by as much as a few per cent, the utility says. A hotel, for instance, could decide to run its laundry at night instead of during peak hours. “It will be a useful tool for our users to understand their power consumption patterns at different time intervals,” Hongkong Electric manager Ip Pak-nin said.
“The data will help them formulate energy conservation measures accordingly and gauge the success of these measures.”
Hongkong Electric installed the meters for about 4,000 commercial and industrial users in 2002, Mr Ip said. It would install 20,000 more for other users that consume about 20,000kW a month.
Smart meters take a snapshot of consumption levels every 30 minutes and transmit the data to the users’ computer network.
Businesses can check whether energy-saving measures are working by comparing levels against previous baselines.
They can also receive suggestions on how to reduce consumption through other adjustments.
“It will be a useful tool for our users to understand their power consumption patterns at different time intervals. The data will help them formulate energy conservation measures accordingly and gauge the success of these measures,” Mr Ip said.
Bills for heavy users are calculated differently from those for the public. They are charged not only for kilowatts consumed but also on the basis of their energy demands and when they are made, which is referred to as “maximum loading”.
Hongkong Electric said that if businesses could reduce maximum loading, they could potentially cut their power bills by a few per cent.
Currently, 1,800 top power users, or those accounts consuming no less than 25,000kW a month, pay a maximum demand fee on top of the charge for units used. The fee accounts for 10 to 20 per cent of a heavy user’s bill. Hongkong Electric has invested in the city’s distribution and transmission infrastructure. The smart meter replacement will start later this year and take about 10 years. Meters approaching the end of their life span would be given priority to avoid waste, Mr Ip said.
The smart meter has a life span of about 15 years, half of the mechanical meter, and is also three times more expensive for Hongkong Electric, although it saves the utility money as staff are not required to read the meter on a regular basis.
Mr Ip said they had no plan to introduce the smart meters to homes since their consumption was lower and the basic energy-saving measures, like the use of more efficient products, were sufficient to help them conserve power.
He said the utility would continue to provide advice to the public on how to conserve energy.
Under the new scheme of control agreed last year, the power firm will receive an extra combined total of 0.02 per cent of the rate of return for completing at least 50 energy audits, and achieving a saving of no less than three gigawatt hours a year.