- British Gas has signed up with Verv for an energy billing trial in London
- The project aims to correctly bill consumers for energy supplied by multiple providers
A community energy blockchain trial will be taking place in Hackney, a community in London, and has brought British Gas on Board for the project.
This project is being leathered by Verv, an artificial intelligence firm, to ensure that consumers are billed accurately for energy use even when the needy is coming from different providers.
This is where blockchain comes in, as the technology is being used to ensure the accuracy of the bills being sent.
In this case, blockchain technology will measure how much of the consumed energy comes from British Gas and how much is from solar panels.
Based on this, billing is determined. It will also determine how much will be billed of the owners of solar panels who have sold their excess energy to their neighbors.
The trial is already seeing support, having been accepted into the Ofgem sandbox.
“Bill consolidation is a significant component of peer-to-peer energy trading; we need to ensure that consumers get a clear bill which breaks down where their energy has come from and charges them accordingly,” said Peter Davies, CEO and founder of Verv.
How the Calculations are Made
40 Artificial Intelligence hubs were installed in participating homes earlier this year.
The homes already had solar panels but the power being generated was used only for communal areas and not general use.
With this new arrangement, owners of solar panels can sell their excess energy or have them allocated to various flats in their buildings.
“The emergence of new technology such as blockchain has the potential to be a game-changer for businesses and consumers, in this case giving customers the opportunity to benefit from cheap, renewable energy,” said Peter Simon, customer propositions and product director at British Gas.
Growing Emphasis
In the last few years, there has been a serious emphasis on renewable energy and more environmentally-friendly practices.
Entire cities are making the switch and thus, proper billing of consumers is essential. Blockchain can vastly improve on this and should this trial be a success, more and more places could adopt it.
There has also been an impressive investment on the part of the British government in blockchain. From their Land Registry to the upcoming Brexit Border Issues, it seems Britain loves its blockchain.