I don't know about you, but I'm pretty resistant to change. Most of us develop a set of way of doing something and then, because it's practical or convenient or familiar, stick with it until we're either forced to alter our ways, or until something infinitely better comes along.
On the flipside, part of what has enabled humans to survive for 200 000-odd years, is our ability to adapt, to respond dynamically and intelligently to challenges. And so, keeping both these attributes in mind is essential in devising effective solutions to the resource problems we face.
Let's be honest, most people would probably like to be a bit greener, use less, waste less, and certainly pay less on their monthly electricity bill. But with lives already crammed full of information - work appointments, important meetings, children's activities, targets, deadlines, budgets - figuring out ways to save energy often comes last on the list.
So it's time to turn to the trusted helpmate for tasks we need to get done, but don't have time for - technology. It's long streamlined household and admin chores, why not energy management? Why not change the way we think about energy (which, for most, swings between apathy and panic, depending on Eskom's mood) and get automated systems to provide us with information on demand, capacity and use.
Smart grids and meters have already been successfully deployed in several countries, as a way to measure energy consumption in homes, and coordinate supply across national grids. Home automation systems manage a variety of appliances, from regulating air conditioners' temperature and flow, to switching unused appliances off during peak times.
The same is happening in the business world. Apart from greening IT infrastructure, streamlining data centres, and installing power-saving hardware, the management of electricity use brings serious paybacks. Smart meters provide businesses with the information they need to decide what to turn off when, any time of day.
Smart meters put the power, literally, back in consumers' hands.
Lezette Engelbrecht, copy editor and journalist, ITWeb
GreenBiz's recent State of Green Business report contains several examples of companies tackling challenges in this way, and points to the smart grid as a powerful convergence of electricity infrastructure with IT, consumer products and the built environment. There's a long list of benefits - embedding intelligence into the electricity network, lowering power use during demand peaks, remote control of appliances, real-time energy pricing, the integration of renewable energies... it's the stuff of green dreams.
And the opportunities are massive - 1 000 times that of the Internet, according to one Cisco executive in the report, with IT companies near and far eyeing the smart grid as a potential gold mine.
In charge
So, if the solutions exist, if there is all this technological wizardry ready to provide us with easy ways to manage our electricity, why has the roll-out of smart meters and a supporting smart grid been so slow locally? SA faces some hefty energy challenges, not least its dependence on dirty coal and a utility lost in its own incompetence; smart meters could just put the power back in the hands of consumers.
Frost & Sullivan released a report a few weeks ago highlighting the potential for smart meters in SA, as it can help Eskom determine rates based on the time of day power is consumed. Crucial to the success of a smart metering programme is two-way communication between consumer and utility, so people can see how individual use affects overall supply, as well as pricing.
According to the brains at Frost & Sullivan, the South African market for smart meters amounted to more than $14.7 million in 2008. By 2014, the replacement and conversion of existing meter technology could see that grow to $50.5 million.
If we want to get technical, the Electricity Regulations Act does compel end-users gobbling 1 000kWh or more each month to get smart meter system by 2012. Eskom and municipalities will have to start upgrading from current prepaid meters to more advanced versions, if we're to tackle demand issues.
But municipalities are concerned about the costs of installing these new, more expensive devices, and meter specifications for standardising units are still outstanding.
So here's the deal: the country faces huge challenges in electricity demand and capacity, consumers need a way to play an active part in how they use, pay for, and impact supply, and the technology to enable this is available. All this brings a wealth of opportunities for enterprising start-ups to tap into an eager market.
It will require government funding and support, arguably an elusive concept, but if SA's top guns can see the potential - sustainable jobs, a burgeoning new energy industry, better management of resources, reduced demand - it may just get its act together. Yes, the core problems in energy supply still need addressing, and funding will have to be ploughed into generating renewable sources, but either way, energy management is part of the long-term solution.
South Africans have been left in the dark too long when it comes to controlling how they use and manage energy. Smart meters offer a way of making the change to a more efficient lifestyle, but as is so often the case with reconfiguring an entity set in its ways, it's likely to be a slow process.
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