British Gas picks Elster as second smart meter provider

British Gas has chosen Elster as its second provider for dual electricity and gas meters for its planned rollout of smart meters in 2012 and 2013.

The UK-based utility had held a competitive evaluation of several potential vendors to identify an additional qualified supplier for its smart metering deployment. Landis + Gyr will also provide British Gas with “dual protocol WAN (wide-area network)” solutions.

“We want our customers to understand the energy they use and make informed choices about when to use it and how to save it,” said Dean Keeling, managing director of British Gas smart homes. “Smart meters and energy displays are the foundations for doing this, which is why we want to get them rolled out as quickly as possible. This deal means we have another smart meter supplier helping us put our customers in control.”

Elster designed its BK-G4E and AS330 meters specifically for utilities working to meet the EU’s goals for smart gas and electricity metering.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, advanced energy meters can help households save up to 10 percent on their bills. In the UK, that also means customers will pay only for the energy they use and will no longer receive estimated bills. All British households are expected to be fitted with a smart meter by 2019.