Smart Electricity Meter Data Intelligence for Future Energy Systems: A Survey

TLDR

Smart meters, deployed worldwide since the early 2000s, are expected to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits, yet their true value remains debated, with data analytics—covering acquisition, transmission, processing, and interpretation—being a critical success factor. The study surveys smart electricity meters, examining metering processes, stakeholder interests, and enabling technologies, while highlighting challenges and opportunities from big data and cloud adoption. The survey systematically reviews smart meter technologies, metering processes, and stakeholder requirements to assess how they meet diverse interests.

Abstract

Smart meters have been deployed in many countries across the world since early 2000s. The smart meter as a key element for the smart grid is expected to provide economic, social, and environmental benefits for multiple stakeholders. There has been much debate over the real values of smart meters. One of the key factors that will determine the success of smart meters is smart meter data analytics, which deals with data acquisition, transmission, processing, and interpretation that bring benefits to all stakeholders. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of smart electricity meters and their utilization focusing on key aspects of the metering process, different stakeholder interests, and the technologies used to satisfy stakeholder interests. Furthermore, the paper highlights challenges as well as opportunities arising due to the advent of big data and the increasing popularity of cloud environments.