Yolanda Strengers, RMIT University

The smart metering system in Australian households: Implications for the sustainable consumption of electricity and water

The emerging ‘smart’ electricity meter and its associated services are being used to respond to Australia’s rising peak electricity demand and our increasing consumption of energy and water. The Victorian government has mandated the installation of smart meters in every home in the state beginning in 2008, and a similar mandate is expected in other Australian states in the near future. The smart meter is a two-way communication device that replaces traditional manually-read electricity meters.
It can assist in the administration of variable pricing regimes that charge more during periods of peak demand, and aid the provision of information to households about their energy and water consumption through an ‘in-home display’ to encourage more resource-efficient behaviours.

The services enabled through the smart meter frame Australia’s rising peak demand and increasing energy and water consumption as a problem of individual or household consumption choices. Implicit in this is the assumption that people will ‘do the right thing’ when provided with better consumption information and market mechanisms. However, such an approach fails to consider how many practices that rely on energy and water are socially and culturally contingent, and lived out in seemingly non-negotiable day-to-day habits and routines. For example, a large proportion of household energy and water use is used to maintain current standards of comfort and cleanliness through activities such as heating, cooling, bathing and laundering. Similarly, Australia’s peak demand problem is almost directly the result of rising air-conditioner usage, or escalating standards of comfort. This approach frames consumers as empowered and autonomous individuals and underestimates the role of institutions, infrastructures and technologies in structuring and orchestrating demand.

Through qualitative research activities with households and stakeholders, this PhD thesis firstly frames the smart metering system within a model of sustainable consumption that recognises the importance of social and cultural norms in determining behaviour. Secondly, it considers the limitations and opportunities for householders to act within a socio-technical system of electricity and water provision, within which the smart metering system is deeply ingrained.

The thesis aims to offer insights into what impacts the smart metering system may have on existing standards of comfort and cleanliness, what the barriers are to changing these standards, and how aspects of the system could be used to challenge or reinforce these existing standards in Australian households. In addition, the thesis considers how the provision of smart meters and the services it enables might reinforce or alter existing patterns of demand that consequently improve or diminish householders’ ability to reduce their electricity and water consumption.

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