ABSTRACT
If there is a front line in Smart Grid, then smart metering would be considered the point where Smart Grid begins. The primary mission of a meter is to monitor power consumption through metrology, which measures the amount of load an entity takes in. Meters are most widely used on commercial and residential buildings. In the past, utilities would physically visit each meter on a schedule in order to read it and determine how much energy a consumer was using. They have come up with complex mechanisms to predict how much energy a consumer would use in order to be able to bill the consumer. One way to do this is to read several meters in a neighborhood and bill consumers based on those reads for a period of 1 year. Companies could then take the average bill and assume that consumers in the same area would basically utilize the same amount of energy. Obviously this process is inef˜cient as it will and has led to people being billed for energy consumption that does not represent reality. It should be noted that utilities have compensated for this by using complex formulas that are likely considered trade secrets in order to ensure that consumers get a fair shake. Moreover, consumers were likely under-billed in an effort to ensure that the utilities could not be sued for improper accounting practices.
