Are they still the work of the devil?. Pros and Cons?.
For the consumer, the only benefit is not having to send meter readings to your supplier, which might save a couple of minutes one a month or quarter.
For the supplier, they get usage data every 15 minutes. In the future, this will be used for time based billing, where the cost varies depending on the time of day, total demand, the weather and all kinds of other factors. This will be used to regulate demand by making it expensive when there is excessive demand, and perhaps slightly cheaper at other times. Eventually certain items in the home will be able to communicate with the meter to establish whether it is appropriate to use power at the particular moment. Electric cars being the first likely use - and this also allows the price to vary based on what you are using the electricity for, so the days of cheap electricity for your car will be over.
It's also entirely likely that they will be used in other ways - such as:
- electric heating being switched on and off at intervals in line with available capacity
- too much demand in the area, your electric car doesn't charge at all, or can only charge at a lower rate.
- severe lack of generating capacity, so not only will your car not charge, any charge in it could be shoved back into the grid, making your car a temporary storage device.