You are correct that I am not very familiar with the domestic US debate over smart meters. You may be right about them being oversold by their proponents – I would not know.

In general, though, I believe that smart meters are a good thing for both the climate and for the efficiency of the electricity grid. They can play a vital role in paving the ground for massive wind and solar energy, which are energy sources we must tap if we want a cleaner energy mix.

An efficient electricity grid is desirable in any society, even one where regulators do such a poor job that most of the benefit accrue to the utilities.

Regarding the ‘environmental benefits’ of demand response, the UD DoE specifically warned against attributing any environmental benefits to demand response in a report to Congress in 2006. In short, they see the problem as well.

Lastly, should we spending stimulus money on a technological approach whose primary benefit is allowing utilities to fire meter readers?

1. Consumers and producers have opposite interests: I cannot see how this is substantiated. In any relationship between a buyer and a seller, there is an element of opposite interest (e.g., the price level). However, when consenting adults enter into a transaction, it is because both believe they benefit from it. And in the case of power generation and consumption, I believe that it is clear that it is neither in the interest of consumers nor of producers to use extremely expensive peak power for needs that could just as well be met during off-peak.

2. Smart meetering has never been intended to reduce overall consumption: Maybe, but it may still be a part of the answer. “Smart” demand based on price signals is one of several steps one could take to improve the electricity system.

3. Shifting demand off the peak could increase total carbon emissions: This is highly speculative. A smart grid is a key factor in being able to accommodate large quantities of wind and solar power in the grid, which of course reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, the peak capacity is today typically produced by natural gas plants that mostly idle – the carbon footprint per KWh becomes quite high when the entire plant is only run once in a long while.

Given all the attention that “Smart Grid” is getting now it seems very important to start to make distinctions between what the utilities are doing and the public interest of reducing energy use and carbon emissions.