ABI Research reportedly announced a new report Smart Meters for Smart Grids giving a fresh estimate for worldwide smart meter deployments. According to the report, the number of smart electric meters deployed worldwide will rise from a 2009 level of 76 million to reach about 212 million in 2014.

 

A smart meter is an integral part of smart grid. Smart meter enables two-way digital communication between the meter and the utility, allowing consumers to have greater control over power consumption.

 

Smart meters have already gained popularity in North America and Europe, the agency finds. Now the focus is being shifted to other developing countries, especially to China. According to ABI Research (News - Alert), China has been rigorously investing in smart meters and will replace 300 million electricity meters over the next five years.

 

According to Sam Lucero, practice director at ABI Research, the most important factor driving the smart meter deployments is government regulators.  For example, in the US, $3.4 billion in federal economic stimulus funding was directed to smart grid development in November 2009.

 

“The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 or “EISA 2007” directly encourages smart grid technology adoption by the states, and funds NIST’s efforts to develop a standards-based technology framework to facilitate smart grid adoption,” Lucero said.

 

The European Union recently enacted a “Third Energy Package” in September 2009, which aims to see every European electricity meter “smart” by 2022, says ABI Research.

Energy efficiency and reliability have been among the top motivating factors for smart meter deployments. The smart grid also results in huge power savings, resulting in carbon reduction.

 

According to ABI Research, smart grids also yield better customer experience. While the new technology improves the way customers manage electricity, it also enables governments to have a control on energy theft.

 

However the path to smart metering is not always smooth, finds ABI Research. In one instance, PG&E (News - Alert) in California has been facing issues with smart meter billing. According to ABI Research, PG&E, one of the earliest utilities to deploy smart meters, has been faced with consumer complaints related to inflated bills.

 

Recently, Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert), in its new report titled “Asia Pacific Smart Grid Market”  reported that various governments in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, have issued regulatory mandates requiring utilities to modernize their grids, TMCnet reported.