All electricity consumers in Norway have a smart meter installed. With AMS (Advanced Metering System), consumers receive advanced information about their electricity consumption, a more accurate meter reading and better opportunities to engage in demand response.
Smart meters register electricity consumption every hour, and automatically send information about the consumption to the DSO. The result is a quicker and more correct collection of metering values, and a more correct basis for billing consumers.
The meters have two-way communication between the metering point and the DSO, through which the consumer can receive time-of-use information about consumption and prices. Information can be made available through a smart phone or in-home-display. This will enable consumers to use electricity more efficiently.
AMS is a good platform for supplying convenient household services. Going beyond the basic requirements established by NVE-RME through regulation, DSOs and third parties can offer useful consumer services. These services may be energy related, such as managing electricity consumption or offering new types of energy products, as well as providing solutions for safety alarms, registering water leakages and so on.
Read more about the opportunities with new technology and demand response here (in Norwegian).
DSOs are responsible for installing and operating the AMS system. However, DSOs cannot deny other service providers the opportunity to offer demand response or information services. The electricity consumer has ownership over all data regarding electricity consumption. When that is said, DSOs and retailers have the right to access the data required for settlement and billing. DSOs cannot make this data available to others without the consent of the consumer.
To safeguard against the misuse of metering data and customer information, DSOs are obligated to install safety systems and follow routines necessary to ensure that personal information does not fall into the wrong hands, or that unauthorised persons have access to the AMS system.