John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is banking on Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters to help it cut its gas use, rather than smart metering, the company has said.
Unlike traditional meters, AMRs send information about consumption to an external source, allowing consumption to be measured and analysed. However, AMRs do not provide the same level of trend analysis and management information as a next-generation smart meter.
Speaking to Energy Demand, Toby Marlow, JLP’s sustainable development manager said that the partnership has opted to link its AMR gas meters to its building management system (BMS) by-passing the need for smart meters.
Gas usage data is sent for analysis by the building management system operator, which identifies trends and offers advice, while an additional BMS programme allows the company to limit how much gas each building uses before an alarm is sounded.
100% on the way…
Prompted by rising utility prices and the growth of its business, John Lewis has now installed AMRs in over 80% of its estate, with plans to push this to 100% in the “coming years,” Marlowe said.
Marlow hopes that by installing the AMRs, as well as using new refrigerants, JLP will be able to save between 50-70% on its gas bills across the Waitrose estate. But he stressed that success would hinge on the quality of its data analysis, rather than the meters themselves.
“The AMR will not deliver savings on its own,” he said. “It’s how we use the data. Data quality needs to be better, and we’ll probably be saying that for the next 15 years. If we can’t measure it, we can’t report it and we can’t do something about it. It’s as simple as that. The more qualitative data we can get the more we can see what’s happening and do something about it.”
In January, JLP renewed it contract with Energy Assets, an AMR gas metering firm, with a view to installing an extra 64 AMR gas meters across its estate. The partnership currently has 286 gas meters installed, and all new installations will now be AMR.
2020 targets
The government has said that all small businesses and domestic properties must have smart electricity and gas meters installed by 2020, but no provisions have been made for larger firms.