Its official we are heralding in the new era of smart metering and the possibility of saving 500 euros a year on our ESB bill. As reported in the Irish Independent we will be pay less if we use power during off peak hours and more during peak ( 5 p.m. - 7 p.m)

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan announced details of phase 1 of the 1bn euro plan to have all homes smart meter enabled by 2012. Householder may have to pay 100 euros for the smart meter to be installed. 21,000 households will take part in a trial.

Micro generation and the possibility of selling back to the grid was alluded to but no concrete details were provided. Netmetering ie. offsetting over a period of time will need to be in place if this is to be financially attractive to domestic producers. As outlined in a previous article a domestic producer does not produce electricity at a flat line rate. Wind for example can be feast or famine so over time the producer should be allowed to offset their production against their consumption. i.e. net metering,

Smart and Net Metering must allow irish domestic producers to offset their ESB Bills