Apparently that is common in Italy - the tariff you pay depends on the maximum demand you want/need.
France too. I think the per-unit price is the same, but your standing charge will be pants-wetting if you declare a maximum demand of 18.4kW, 23kW etc.
As a result, according to comments made at the talk I went to last week, you can already buy kitchen appliances over there that between them will manage max demand in the kitchen (where the biggest loads are normally to be found).
Makes sense.
We'll see more of that, with appliances in 2-way communication with the supply via smart meters, so for example the washing machines in a group of houses can be scheduled to run at different times, and the householders can set a policy such as "Don't start unless the price per unit is <
xp, but if that hasn't happened by 16:00 start anyway because I need the washing to be done when I get home from work".
They'll be able to communicate their status - e.g. if the drum is full of hot water (assuming we aren't all on cold-water detergents by then) it might be counter-productive to put the machine on hold because it will cool down and need re-heating, but if it's half-way through the drying cycle it can be suspended for a while.
There are stiff penalties for exceeding your agreed max demand which makes it worth (what I assume) is extra cost in the appliances.
I think there was mention of Germany also having max-demand based tariffs as well - and if you go over then your bills are recalculated for the previous 12 months at the higher rate
AIUI, in France they just cut you off if your demand exceeds your contracted max via accurate
disjoncteurs. No doubt with a Gallic shrug though.
So when people try and tell you that these smart meters are to reduce energy consumption, just smile in the same way you would when your elderly relative with dementia says something odd. You and I know they are either taken in by the marketing speak (ignorance is bliss), or (less likely) are lying through their teeth. There'll be b***er all saving in overall consumption - it's all about load management, cutting demand when the windmills stop working (power cuts in last December's weather anyone ?), and persuading people to use power when demand is lowest (think economy 7 with more intelligence).
In principle there's nothing wrong with intelligent demand management - and if you have the right mix of carrots and sticks so as not to make people feel they are being punished then it shouldn't be a problem.
It might reduce overall consumption - if you find that you can never get your dishwasher to run because you've got a kW of loony lighting in the kitchen you might make some changes.
But overall, demand management, and evening out peaks and troughs, is good for the suppliers as it reduces their costs. We've had E7 all these years not because it costs them less to make electricity at night but because it tends towards them needing to make less in the day and therefore tends to make them need to build fewer power stations (I believe those are quite expensive).
Whatever you think of their profits, you have to see that they will be making those come what may, so if their costs go up then so will their prices. We may not see a fall in our bills via smart metering, but we will see a slower rise.
And of course, we all trust our gas/electric suppliers not to sell our usage profiles to any marketers don't we "roll: These meters can store 1/2 hourly consumption for 13 months, and it'll all go back to the remote data centre "for analysis".
Indeed it will (no doubt the IT suppliers are looking at all that data to be analysed with glee). And there's money in it for the suppliers. They may not know if it's because SimonH2 is a lover of barbeques or a lover of hiking, but if they find that when the weather is good he doesn't use his oven on a Sunday they can use that to predict his demand based on the weather forecast, and thus shape their tariff profiles for the weekend, which they are going to have to publish - customers will want to know if next weeks work shirts will be best washed on Saturday or Sunday.
I can't remember the actual figures, but WalMart took a big chunk out of their stock wastage by improving their demand forecasting based on analysis of buying patterns and relating them to weather forecasts, sporting events etc etc, and that fed straight onto their bottom line. And that meant that in a competitive environment they could lower their prices without lowering their profits.
Ryanair didn't get to where it is just by making their customers pay to be able to pay them and not feeding them, they did it by managing demand so that they reduced the number of empty seats.
I'll stop now before I think any more about Michael O'Leary running a DNO...
