£9bn project to monitor energy

Xhead = £9bn project to monitor energy

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has rolled out an ambitious scheme that will cost up to £9 billion (R115 billion) for smart meters to be deployed in every household to send information to energy companies about a household's consumption, reports Telegraph.co.uk.

Homeowners will have a screen the size of a small paperback which they can keep in the kitchen, or sitting room. This will allow companies to send messages to families about their bills, special offers or warnings about when their energy usage is unusually high.

"I can only see benefits for us, and for customers," said Phil Bentley, the MD of British Gas. "There will be no more incorrect estimated bills, which is a hideous cause for complaint."

Military clinics and field hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan have supplied more than $1 million a month in healthcare services to civilian contractors during the past two years without seeking reimbursement from their employers, says The Washington Post.

An audit by the Defence Department inspector general (IG) found that army, navy and air force clinics and hospitals were not billing contractors because there was no unified system for doing so.

The Pentagon's joint staff told the IG early last month that electronic devices to monitor contractor use of military medical units would be installed in Iraq and Afghanistan within three months. These devices will provide a direct link to contractor companies for billing purposes, according to the report.

Direct Insite, a global provider of electronic invoicing services, has signed a multi-year contract to provide its e-billing and electronic invoice delivery services to INTTRA, states PR-Canada.

INTTRA is one of the world's largest ocean industry e-commerce platforms, responsible for processing over 175 000 electronic container orders between shippers, forwarders and carriers per week.

Direct Insite's Invoices Online (IOL) service will automate the manual billing processes within INTTRA. Electronic bookings, shipping instructions and shipping orders will be auto-reconciled within IOL to produce accurate e-invoices for INTTRA's carrier customers.