British Gas to install two million smart meters by 2012

Utilities giant announces technology suppliers for the project

British Gas is carrying out the largest smart meter trial in the UK

British Gas will roll out two million smart meters by 2012 to enable customers to cut down on energy use as well as reduce fuel bills and carbon emissions.

The suppliers involved in developing the smart metering system include SAP for the billing component, as well as Vodafone, smart meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr and software and communications firms OSIsoft and Trilliant.

Zigbee Smart Energy will provide the wireless home area network, which will connect the home-based devices.

“We already have the largest smart meter trial in the country [and] we want all our customers to have smart meters as soon as possible,” said Phil Bentley, British Gas managing director.

“This is why we recently launched our new smart metering business, and began recruitment of our 2,600 new smart energy experts who will support the rollout,” said Bentley.

British Gas added that it is sharing its technical standards with the industry to build momentum for an early implementation, ahead of the government’s target date of 2020.