Introduction

‘Power surge’ has been the key phrase in Australia for quite sometime now. A vigorous electricity demand has been fuelled due to the growing affluence and phenomenal usage of power appliances such as air conditioners. Considering the lead time for new power generation projects in the country, the industry is probing deeply into realistic demand side management to shun the overloading of power systems that are already struggling to cope. The question is not just about cost, but the consumers need to clearly understand the price fluctuations during peak and off-peak periods. At this point, an integrated system is required that would help in the overall power supply and management, especially during peak load conditions. An efficient electricity metering is one such system.

Let us examine more closely the trends and future opportunities in electricity metering systems and its technology in Australia.

Overview of Electricity Metering System in Australia

The recent unbundling of electricity industry in several states of Australia has given rise to separate entities owned by private organizations or public companies. In the past, many American electricity companies were in the market, while now there are some Asian entrants such as the Singapore Power Ltd., CLP Power Asia (Australia – TRUenergy) and so forth. The electricity metering system covers utilities or the network service providers, electricity retailers, and the network regulatory bodies. In the last ten years, all of these key electricity industry stakeholders have become more independent entities, while earlier all these used to be vertically integrated government-owned organizations.

Generally, metering is the responsibility of the distributor or the retailer. In reality, the utilities in Australia are the major buyers and installers of electricity meters, while the retailers merely act as an interface between the consumers and suppliers of energy. However, the retailers can be responsible for larger customers where remote reading of meters is involved. The responsible party for metering engages accredited meter providers (MP) and meter readers. These MPs purchase electricity meters from the manufacturers.

Components: Manufacturers & Meters

Australia, currently, has only two to three electricity meter manufacturers or suppliers. The only true meter manufacturer is the Bayard Capital’s AMPY email metering, which is the largest in Australia. Landis+Gyr, based in Switzerland is another global leader in meter manufacturing and occupies the second position in the Australian market. However, with Bayard Energy’s (the energy management and conservation division of Bayard Capital based in Australia) worldwide acquisition of Landis+Gyr, the Australian electricity meter market is now dominated by the consortium of AMPY and Landis+Gyr. Other significant market participants include EDMI Limited, a Malaysian group-owned company based in Brisbane, which imports meters from Malaysia and Singapore. EDMI caters to high-end products used by generation and transmission utilities in the 132 kV class substations with their special 0.2 class meters and are now moving down into the lower markets, considering the likely demand for electricity meters in the next few years. Few other participants present in the market today are Schlumberger, PRI Limited, and Elster Metering Pty Ltd. Elster does not manufacture any electricity meters in Australia; all meters it sells are to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards that are manufactured in the United Kingdom. Out of all the suppliers, AMPY email metering and Landis+Gyr currently hold the largest market share for electricity meters in Australia.

In eastern Australia, every customer can purchase electricity or has the liberty to choose his/her retailers for electricity. This is mostly seen in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, and in some places this is valid for customers with certain size range known as the ‘McDonald’s store size’ (consumption above 160 MWhr per annum). Therefore, the electricity meters used for different consumers vary broadly between industrial, commercial, and residential end users. The most common meters used in Australia are the single phase, single element meters, and the three phase electronic smart meters. There are some three phase electronic dumb meters, which are a direct replacement for electromechanical three phase meters, the only difference being the display unit (mechanical disk indicator replaced by electronic liquid crystal display). The widely used domestic meters are usually of the single phase, single element type, and are regulated by monopoly distribution network companies. Traditionally, these domestic house meters are made by AMPY email metering and Landis+Gyr.

Country Energy, the New South Wales electricity retailer is currently into a seaboard project requiring around seven million meters in the domestic category, for which an executive sign off for 1.5 million meters is already on track. The major challenges faced by the seaboard are the tight supply problem, since there is not enough generation and there is also a problem in deciding between coal and nuclear power stations. However, this is anticipated to take a few years to commission and there is rapid air conditioner demand, which has given rise to system constraints for the large distribution networks. The Federal Government has already allocated A$ 5.0 billion until 2010 to remove such constraints. So, many interesting metering activities are expected to happen in Australia in the next five years.

Regulations Empower Interval Metering System

The price of electricity changes every hour in the national wholesale electricity market run by the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO). This drives the trend in Australia toward electronic smart meters. For instance, EnergyAustralia, one of the largest utility based in Sydney, purchases only electronic smart meters. All tier one consumers (huge industrial and commercial) participate in the contestable electricity market and have three phase electronic smart meters that captures data in 15 minutes intervals and are read between 12.00 AM and 4.00 AM. These special smart meters, which have a data logging system, accumulate data every 15 minutes and are known as Interval meters. Victoria is expected to be a potential market for meter supplier, since the half-hour interval meters have been mandated for all customers with a roll out commencing in 2006. The state alone demands 150,000 to 250,000 meters a year for the entire replacement of more than 3.5 million meters installed today. The installing frequency for these meters varies between utilities but the demand is surely on the rise. Country Energy estimates about 50,000 meters a year to replace the entire 1.5 million meters it operates currently, while EnergyAustralia roughly needs about 120,000 meters a year. The AS 1284-13 standards is the statistical model to test meter population needs, which gives an estimate of the number of meters to be replaced. Statistical projections reveal that about 250,000 meters (out of 1.5 million meters of Country Energy) have to be changed within a very short period since they have been used for a long time now and are drifting out of accuracy.

There are both national and state level meter regulations in Australia, while most of the current projects take more of the metering rules under the national rules. For most of the smaller customers metering arrangements are still under state level regulation by the respective energy regulator. All jurisdictions of the individual states are under the authority of NEMMCO, which works across state borders. The local regulators for Victoria are the Essential Services Commission (ESC), while for New South Wales is a body called IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal). These bodies make recommendations that are adopted by the electricity industry. The local standards (AS/NZ 1284) for meter manufacturing are managed by the National Measurement Institute under the National Metering Code. This acts as a barrier for international manufacturers to enter the Australian market; however, the Federal Government is trying to move into the IEC standards so that there will be a higher level of playing field for foreign participants and the huge production can be sorted out on a global basis.