Telenor to measure your electricity consumption

Press release
Fornebu
6 minute read
In the near future Norwegians will be replacing their electricity meters. Electricity consumption in all households will be measured live, for example, through the mobile network.
By January 1, 2017, all Norwegian electricity consumers will start using an advanced energy metering system. As a result, the days when people meticulously recorded and reported their consumption to the energy companies are soon over. The new meters record consumption on an ongoing basis and submit this information to the power grid company.

The meters can be read automatically, using a variety of technologies, such as radio or the power grid itself. Telenor is joining the battle to capture this market with its advanced radio technologies.

"We have one of the world's most modern mobile networks. It can be used for far more than just calling and surfing. Mobile technology is very well suited to reading electricity consumption," says Abraham Foss, Head of Business Markets at Telenor.

"The swap to automated readings will open up a major and exciting third-party market. We will probably see quite early that external players are developing mobile apps making it possible, for example, to increase the heat in your house directly from your mobile phone," he says.

By using additional equipment you will be able to measure which appliances use the most electricity and at what time of the day you consume the most.

Correct billing


With automated electricity readings you will have a more accurate electricity bill, instead of the current method, which is calculated based on your average consumption during the previous month. When electricity prices are high, you have a tool to help reduce your energy consumption.

"You will start being billed an hourly rate for electricity and will have the option to adjust consumption, especially concerning house heating and the water heater. If you lower the temperature of your heating cables before seven in the morning, when prices increase, there will still be enough floor heat in the bathroom to take a shower," says Thor Erik Grammeltvedt, Section Manager at NVE (Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate).

Grammeltvedt believes that it will become the norm to use additional equipment to adjust consumption automatically according to hourly rates.

On July 1, NVE was ready with the new technology requirements for the new metering system, allowing for hourly readings and data submissions to the power grid owners once a day.

The new technology also allows for energy consumption to be cut remotely.

"This function can be used, for example, in the event of disruptions in the grid where supply in certain areas has to be restricted. A temporary upper two-part limit is set for the individual customer. Without this functionality the alternative will be to disconnect to entire transformer circuit, as is the case today," says Grammeltvedt.

The regulations also stipulate that the power companies will bear the cost of the new meters.

Used to keep track of sheep


Electricity metering over the mobile network relies on M2M (machine-to-machine) technology. Electricity meters will have a box installed with a SIM card that communicates with the power grid company.

"This technology is highly suitable for measuring electricity consumption. Telenor started with M2M more than 20 years ago. It is already in used in monitoring the condition of patients, in alarms for companies and private homes and in fleet control programmes for railways, trucks and other logistics and so on," says Tore Larsen, who is responsible for M2M at Telenor.

Among the more curious areas of use, is the monitoring of sheep and other animals while they are grazing, using M2M. Telenor is a global player in M2M, through Telenor Connexion, which delivers solutions to the motor vehicle industry, among others.

"Reporting electricity consumption means that an enormous amount of data is monitored. It is therefore an advantage for the mobile network solution that Telenor has Norway's biggest operations centre for monitoring and operating this type of communication. Using the mobile network is also a more robust option for transmitting the readings because signals can be sent as both mobile data and SMS," says Larsen.

For further information:

Kristin V. Tønnessen, Information Manager at Telenor, tel. 934 80 648

Tore Larsen, M2M Manager at Telenor. tel. 905 45 936