Orsis aiming to play a big role in the smart meter revolution

Orsis, which manufactures and supplies smart metering systems in homes and businesses across the UK, has already provided over 5,000 meters to clients including Leeds University and South Yorkshire Police as well as primary schools, hospitals and Government buildings.

But it is gearing up to increase its presence and gain a fifth of the smart metering market once the Government programme is rolled out from 2014.

The meters aim to benefit consumers by showing their energy use in real-time, which means people can respond quickly, for instance by turning off unnecessary lights or appliances, to save money. It also allows more accurate billing and better data on energy demand patterns.

The Government estimates households could save £23 on their annual energy bills by 2020, a figure which has been disputed by critics. Since March, when the Government set out its strategy for rolling out smart meters, technology companies, utilities and communications businesses have started pressing Ministers to adopt their competing ideas on how smart meters should work.

Hans Kristiansen, chief executive of Orsis, which was founded in 2006, is critical of the Government’s current strategy, likening it to “building a space shuttle to pop to the shops”. He believes the planned technical specifications for the smart meters, if approved, are too complex and expensive.

Instead, he believes installing a cheaper, basic meter in the first instance would be a better approach. Under his approach, any technical updates would be carried out behind the scenes in a central ‘back office’ to avoid having to replace meters when new technology became available.

“We think the objective should be to give the consumer better information service rather than a lot of technology on your wall,” he said.

“Having an unnecessarily high level of technical or functional complexity built into smart meters will result in extra cost and increase the probability of failure. Given the speed at which technology innovates, a lot of the complex technology could be redundant after a short time.”

Lynne Sharp, corporate strategy manager, added: “The Government’s specifications makes rolling out the technology expensive and it might not work. Running a meter with all this possibility is a fantastic idea but they are better off starting off with a basic product and upgrading it later in the back office.”

The initial cost to each household is expected to be £350 which will be passed on to customers through their energy bills.

Future generations of smart meters are likely to offer even greater advantages, for instance by allowing utilities to better manage demand within consumers’ homes, by switching appliances such as washing machines on when demand is lower, or turning down fridges when demand peaks. This could save billions through more efficient management of the electricity grid, but these capabilities are unlikely to be introduced for several years at the earliest.

However, these capabilities also bring potential problems such as what happens to the consumer data that the meters collect and how utilities will ensure that people can retain control over their own energy use. Critics say some companies could try to use the opportunity of installing smart meters to sell versions with more features, or to sell additional services, such as internet or telephones.

There is also the possibility that energy bills could actually increase. Orsis, which is the UK subsidiary of Revenco, a Chinese company with a £1bn turnover and experience of advanced metering, works with a number of partners to manufacture and supply smart meters and collect and distribute the data they create.

It records data at 30-minute intervals and puts it through a package that advises customers on their energy consumption.

The next generation

Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters. They collect information about energy use electronically at regular intervals. Orsis recently extended its expertise into micro generation metering, primarily for use in the social housing market, which allows owners of Solar PV array installations to take advantage of the Government’s Feed-In Tariff and other Green Deal initiatives. It has already sold hundreds of micro-generation meters.