as far as i can tell the ability to manage financial risk of non-payment is the business driver for smart meters despite the rhetoric of 'smart'. electricity companies hate the fact that you consume energy and then get billed in arrears since obviously some people can't/won't pay. smart meters let you move instantly to a pre-pay plan where the risk moves from the provider to the user... it's also a more graceful method of cutting people off - you can just transition to a pre-pay method with a fixed credit limit so that it's clear what is going to happen when you get to zero - this is useful if there are follow-on liabilities ie, people depend on power if they have medical needs etc
From my experience (I work in this industry) the biggest driver is definitely billing, but not quite what you picked out.
What providers really want is to move to tiered and time-of-use pricing across the entire grid. Most utilities already do this with the various commercial tariffs, but that only accounts for about 40% of the total grid. All of us, in the near future, will be paying rates that vary by how much we use AND (more critically) WHEN we use it.
It's not really something to fear, for a lot of people this is going to mean lower utility bills in general. For the folks running swimming pools and the like, things are probably going to get a bit more expensive.
This is a great place for startups, btw. There are a lot of interesting opportunities around helping people make sense of the changing landscape surrounding utility billing.
Exactly. Also, every energy company I've dealt with in the UK does their very best to ensure you're always in credit.
They "predict" your usage wildly inaccurately (even if you give monthly readings and they have years of your historical usage to analyse) and adjust your monthly direct debit how they see fit.
