Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 645: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to ensure that the ESB installs a new smart electronic meter in every home in the country. [17928/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The roll-out of a national smart meter programme is progressing in line with the commitment in the Government's Energy Policy Framework and in the Programme for Government. The programme is a central component of our strategy to significantly enhance management of demand for electricity and to achieve greater energy efficiency through the use of cutting-edge technology.

The delivery of smart metering requires a collective response. This is a technically complex and ambitious initiative. The Steering Group overseeing programme implementation is chaired by the Commission for Energy Regulation and includes representation from Sustainable Energy Ireland, ESB Networks, ESB Customer Supply and independent suppliers as well as my Department. There are also four working groups, reporting directly to the Steering Group, which are mandated to progress the complex technical aspects of smart metering including Tariffs, Billing/Data Services, Networks and Customer Behaviour.

I can confirm that the pilot phase, which will be the start of roll-out, is still scheduled to get underway by mid year. ESB Networks is currently engaged in the final stages of a tender process to select smart meters for testing in the pilot phase. The objective remains to complete the national smart meter programme in five years. Under the ESB's new Strategic Framework to 2020, the national smart meter programme will be financed under the ESB Networks Multi-annual Investment Programme.

Smart metering has the recognised potential to deliver a range of benefits. These include:

Better demand management, particularly at peak times, leading to reduced emissions resulting from increased energy efficiency and reductions in electricity usage,

The enabling of micro generation and distributed generation, as smart meters will be able to record electricity exported to the Grid,

Improved customer service: smart metering will allow remote meter reading allowing for more accurate billing. Smart metering technology also has the potential to enhance competition by facilitating customers wishing to switch supplier and suppliers wishing to offer innovative products.

A cost effective smart metering system will therefore deliver tangible benefits to all consumers of electricity.

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 646: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to facilitate the introduction of net metering. [17929/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Net metering, in the electricity market, requires that participating generators can access electricity meters which record both imports and exports of electricity or, at a minimum, meters which offset electricity imported by individual customers against volumes of electricity exported to the electricity system from the same property. Traditional electricity meters do not record or offset the volume of any electricity exported.

In line with the Programme for Government, work is underway on the roll-out of the national smart meter programme. These meters, among other functions, can measure and record both imports and exports of electricity. The introduction of net-metering will therefore be enabled by the national smart meter programme.