Jersey is within ‘touching distance’ of being fully Smart Meter-enabled, as we look to enter the final stage of our £11million, multi-year project to replace all the Island's old credit meters with the latest digital technology, remote reading Smart Meters in the New Year.
St Mary, St John and Trinity are the ‘smartest’ parishes, as we have replaced 100% of those rural parishes’ old credit meters among over 46,500 Smart Meters we have installed so far. Benefits to Islanders include an end to estimated bills, no more meter readers calling, no more self reads and four equal billing periods, with bills arriving on the same date each quarter.
The technology also aids our long-term strategy to inspire a zero-carbon Jersey by enabling the provision of more comprehensive information to consumers and the potential for new tariffs that can encourage customers to move from fossil fuels to heating with low carbon electricity, a move now regarded in Europe as essential to decarbonising energy.
Jersey’s Smart Meters also work in tandem with the JE Smart Account, a secure online customer portal that provides customers with more insight and a better understanding of their energy consumption in simple charts. Viewed on a phone, tablet or PC, Smart Account enables customers to compare usage, daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly and with that of similar properties if they choose. They also receive and store their bills in Smart Account.
JE CEO Chris Ambler said: ‘Our Smart Meter design and build programme has gone very smoothly. Smart Meters are a key enabler of a smart tech revolution that will help our customers improve energy efficiency and enjoy cleaner, greener living – helping the Island as a whole towards carbon neutrality.
‘The technology has already enabled us to introduce our first 24-hour uninterrupted, discounted heating tariff E20+ and, looking ahead, we will be able to explore the development of new tariffs offering better value for money. We have launched a beta version of our Smart Account which is providing enhanced information to customers. The learnings from this will be built into the development of our Smart App.’
The final phase of the project will revolutionise the way 4,500 Islanders, who currently use Pay As You Go (PAYG) keys to top up their meters, pay for their electricity. The keys, which have been in use for over 25 years, are being replaced with ‘Smart Cards’, the size of a typical credit card that carry a premise’s unique meter number. The project is set to complete by the end of next year.
For more information visit www.smartthinking.je
