Abstract
Over the last two decades, many countries have installed millions of smart meters to improve the efficiency, reliability, and quality of service in the electric power sector. Compared with traditional meters, smart meters measure consumers’ electricity usage at 5- or 15-minute intervals and communicate that usage and other data automatically to the utility. Both electricity consumers and their utility can benefit from smart meters. They provide more information to manage electricity consumption, improve power outage detection and restoration, enhance opportunities for additional value-added services such as billing options and time of use rates, lower the utility’s costs, and enable distributed energy resources like solar and storage.
