Estimated meter readings used for electricity bills not only create strong dissatisfaction among customers, they create substantial financial uncertainty for many multi-site users, for whom even a small discrepancy can have a serious effect on cash flow.

They make the monthly financial accounts inaccurate and, as any gaps or inaccuracies have to be corrected in subsequent bills, cause considerable administrative and financial costs to customers.

As energy prices rise, the challenge for facilities managers to deliver increased efficiencies, reduced overheads and improved energy budget forecasting is becoming just as important as capping the cost of supplies – which is why it’s time to say goodbye to estimated bills.

The experience of the half-hourly market is that, with remote metering, customers can be confident of getting an accurate monthly electricity bill for each site, as the meter information is collected monthly and delivered to the supplier in time for their billing run.

However, despite the obvious advantages of this process and the fact that reductions in the cost of half-hourly metering and communications are creating scope for NHH sites to be monitored remotely, multi-site owners and facilities managers in particular have yet to realise the benefits.

Achieving successful change

The benefits don’t just stop at more regular meter readings and accurate bills that can be easily checked and paid with confidence. The costs of accommodating meter readers, making appointments, providing access, security and supervision on manned or unmanned sites virtually disappear with remote metering.

In addition, the ability to collect data remotely is a particular bonus for companies or organisations that have a variety of disparate and geographically split sites or that are in ‘sensitive’ locations.

Schools, banks, retailers, local authorities and hospitals have all had to increase security in recent years and have seen the costs of managing meter reading attendance rise at the same time.

Furthermore, the half-hourly data can help facilities managers both to evaluate different NHH tariffs against their actual electricity usage or to decide whether it would be better to switch to the half-hourly market.

With the data collected remotely from each site, facilities managers can identify future savings, such as the lowest cost tariff on a site-by-site basis, and monitor changes in energy usage – vital if energy efficiency targets are to be met.

And, in this increasingly environ- mentally aware society, better metering data will facilitate improved energy management, reducing emissions and minimising the waste of resources that
are rising in price on an almost daily basis.

How new technology can help

The meter’s registered readings, previously collected on rare occasions by someone visiting your site, are now read remotely via a communications link, typically monthly or more frequently and automatically passed to the supplier for billing to you.

The lowest cost communication method is for the meter to be linked to an existing telephone line capable of receiving direct dialled external calls and with Call Line Identifier (CLI) enabled. Where there is no existing telephone line available or the cost of installing another extension is prohibitive, a GSM module can be used, so that remote meter readings are collected across the mobile network.

Today, the annual cost of installing and operating an NHH meter with monthly data collection and provision is typically less than the cost of employing a purchasing assistant or a maintenance operative to open up sites for five days.

What about gas and water?

It’s not just electricity that needs to be monitored more closely – the ability to increase efficient management of other utilities such as water and gas is just as important.

IMServ’s new multi-utility package utilises the existing infrastructure put in place to collect half-hourly data for electricity usage and records data from gas and water meters on the site at the same time.

As it uses wireless radio technology to transmit the information, it avoids the need for expensive cabling between various on-site utility meters and is ideal for sites where gas, water and electricity meters are geographically diverse. It is also flexible enough to be used for other data collection needs, such as temperature control.

Information at your fingertips

With the information provided online, data can be updated daily, weekly or monthly, depending on an organisation’s requirements.

This means facilities managers can see at a glance how efficiency across all the utilities is being handled and in turn have the information necessary to deliver savings across the boardroom table.

Both remote data collection and the ability to collect data from more than one set of services at a time offer a huge leap forward for facilities managers in their battle for better energy management. The technology is available now and many of the UK’s blue-chip businesses are already seeing the benefits.

Organisations that benefit the most will be those that have proactively introduced improvements and gained ground on their competitors in doing so. Finance directors and shareholders should be happy too, as savings convert into increased profits and better forecasting brings dividends in the future.

IMServ’s role

IMServ is a nationally accredited agent for meter operations, data collection, and data aggregation in both the NHH and half-hourly markets. Currently servicing over 4.2 million domestic and business utility customers across the UK, IMServ processes the largest proportion of half-hourly metering data from commercial and industrial sites everyday.


Further information
Please contact:
Della Judd
Half-Hourly Operations Director
IMServ
Tel: 01908 696000
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