CLP Power's smart meters will track power use
CLP Power customers in New Territories and Kowloon take part in pilot aimed at cutting bills
Thousands of power users in Kowloon and the New Territories will be equipped with smart meters that will track their power use and alert them when their consumption or budget approaches a pre-set level.
CLP Power will install the meters in 3,000 homes and 1,400 businesses next year in an 18-month pilot scheme to find out whether the intelligent devices will help change consumers' power-use habits and save energy.
The information will go out through a wireless network to smartphones or in-building displays.
"You can always set your budget but you don't know when you will reach it now until it is too late," said Wayne Pales, head of CLP's smart grid programme.
Power meters are usually placed in a central place outside the user's premises not accessible to residents. This keeps users in the dark about their consumption until they get their two-monthly power bill.
Smart-meter programmes are being tried in more than 150 cities around the world with varying results. Pales said some achieved savings of a few per cent and others up to 20 per cent. He would not speculate about the likely result in Hong Kong.
