Panel Discussion: Smart Utility Adoption - Building a Profitable and Sustainable Infrastructure

Cumulative global investment in smart grids, including smart meter implementations as well as upgrades to the transmission and distribution infrastructure, will approach $46 billion by 2015. According to Berg Insight, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.9% between 2009 and 2015 to reach 111.4 million at the end of the period. This serves as a new opportunity for semiconductor companies; however, there are challenges to overcome. For example, governments must contend with standardization issues, perceived privacy concerns and a massive-scale implementation. Utility providers from each EU country are concerned with implementation time frames meeting government mandates, the costs and complexity of supplying a total of 350 million European households with smart meters as well as supplying meters for industrial use, and semiconductor companies are faced with the challenge of integrating all meter functionality into a less complex design while making it affordable for mass integration into households.