Commentary
Onzo responds to Walker Review of charging and metering of water
Response by Onzo to the Independent Walker Review of Charging and Metering for Water and Sewerage Services
Onzo provides energy and water utilities with the tools that enable them to build more valuable relationships with their customers, dramatically enhancing their understanding of, and ability to influence, their customers’ behaviour. Those tools include a comprehensive and engaging set of customer touchpoints (display, web, electronic media, printed report) and a data analytics platform. These tools improve the ROI of smart metering and demand response programmes.
Onzo has developed a concept water display for ActewAGL, an Australian multi-utility pictured below. Onzo also has Scottish & Southern Energy as a major client.
Onzo welcomes the opportunity to comment on Anna Walker’s interim report on charging and metering for water services.
Onzo sees a lot of parallels between the journey that energy utilities are on and that which water utilities are now embarking on. There are a number of key lessons to be learnt:
I. The increasing price of a utility changes an end customer’s relationship with it from a ‘utility’ to a product/service. The Interim Report observes that the cost of water will keep on rising. Customers will therefore want to know more about their water usage in order to make more informed decisions about its use so that they can exercise control over its cost to them.
II. Not only must the industry operate as efficiently as possible, it must also engage its customers in tackling the challenges together. Behaviour change by consumers could be a significant contributor to addressing the challenges. The Interim Report is light on the role of the end customer, assuming only that water utilities should engage in education programmes.
III. The key to the availability of useful information is the cost/ease of collection of data of the right level of granularity. A monthly reading, for example, will not enable end customers to change their behaviour significantly, whereas the amount of water used by their power shower (which can be inferred from whole house data), and its cost, might prove persuasive. Onzo currently uses 1 second data on energy in near real-time, for example. In the case of water, pulsed meter outputs of reasonable granularity in near real-time would suffice.
IV. Smart metering is a key tool for addressing the challenges that the industry will face. However, water meters are generally being put in pits outside properties. The opportunity to transmit data wirelessly is significantly impacted by this physical barrier. This will need to be addressed in the detailed specification of any smart metering solution.
V. Onzo advocates a universal requirement on the water utilities to provide information to end-users even if there is not a universal requirement to provide smart meters. Onzo has recommended in relation to energy that pricing information, information in real time, historical information, and comparative information - in an accurate and timely manner and in clear and understandable form – be mandated, without specifying the mechanisms by which these are provided.
VI. Given that smart metering is going to be mandated for energy, Onzo recommends that the timeframes and discussions on standards and communication models for water utility smart metering be unified with those for energy immediately, given that this process has been underway for some time. There may also be financial benefits to be obtained from consolidating home visits to fit new hardware.
We would be happy to enlarge on the points made in this submission if that were considered helpful, including giving a demonstration of the water display and our energy solutions (display and web).
