Smart Power meters may switch on advertising in homes !!!

Power meters may switch on advertising in homes
Josh Gordon
February 26, 2008
GRAPHIC: What a smart meter tells you

IF YOU think you are being by bombarded by advertising now, just wait. A new form of spruiking could be coming to your lounge room soon.

Energy companies want to use the State Government's electricity "smart meters" — designed to cut power bills by providing price and consumption information — to send advertising to homes.

The Government has ruled that the new meter boxes must be able to communicate with in-house display units to show householders how much electricity they are using at any time and how much they are paying for it. The information is designed to encourage people to cut back on power use and run energy-hungry appliances such as dishwashers off-peak when tariffs are lower.

Although the display units themselves are not compulsory, The Age understands that power companies are investigating ways to exploit the technology to recover costs. In addition to advertising, a range of other services could be piggybacked on the meters, including sophisticated networks to automatically manage household appliances and even security monitoring.

The Government will begin installing around 2.4 million meters at the end of this year.

The technology, which will replace all mechanical meters by 2011, will also allow energy companies to gather information on the habits of individual households and local areas.

Energy Minister Peter Batchelor suggested that power companies that provided the displays would be free to advertise and offer other services if they complied with marketing laws.

"Technology for in-home displays and other devices will continue to evolve rapidly," Mr Batchelor said.

A spokesman for the Choice consumer group, Christopher Zinn, said real-time information on energy consumption and costs would help householders cut energy bills.

But he said household information must not be misused by retailers, nor should households be forced to receive unsolicited electronic advertising material.

"The important thing is that the consumer has got to have trust that (power suppliers) are not some sort of Big Brother poking around getting information on what you use and when you use it that can be passed on."

Kate Shea, a spokeswoman for TRUenergy, confirmed that the company was exploring using the meters to supply new services and products