Ken Matthews Chairman and CEO National Water Commission Tuesday 23 October 2007

Transcription

1 Metering, Billing / CRM Australia New Zealand 2007 The National Water Initiative - why water metering, measurement and water accounting is so important Ken Matthews Chairman and CEO National Water Commission Tuesday 23 October 2007

2 Thesis In water, we need to fix Australia s water data management water resource accounting before we can fully exploit the opportunities of smart metering and smart billing.

3 Background: Some relevant NWI requirements All governments have agreed to: adequate measuring, monitoring and reporting systems for our water development of water accounting standards, standardised reporting formats, water resource accounts benchmarking of water accounting systems introduce consistent approaches to water pricing

4 Background: NWI Metering Commitments: Consistent metering in the following circumstances: where water is traded where there are disputes about water where new water entitlements are issued where required by a water plan

5 NWI Commitments: Metering continued Governments have agreed to adopt: a national meter specification national meter installation standards national standards for ancillary data collection systems associated with meters

6 Water Data: why is it important? The NWI and the NWC emphasise evidence and data-based decision making

7 NWI Commitments: Data The States and Territories have agreed to: i. Improve coordination of data collection and management systems to facilitate sharing of information ii. Develop partnerships in data collection and storage systems iii. Identify best practice in data management systems for broad adoption.

8 NWI Directions in Metering and Billing Evidence and data-based decision making Full cost recovery Consumption-based pricing Accurate price signals Accurate water volumes Expansion of water markets

9 Current Australian water data: is fragmented lacks interoperability (between agencies and States) lacks comprehensive standards lacks protocols for access, transfer and aggregation Inadequate for decision-making Insufficient for public confidence

10 Free and open exchange of water data will: enable data-based, objective assessment of progress in water reform (the NWI) enable better water planning, including crossborder enable national water assessments on a repeatable basis

11 Free and Open exchange of data will: continued enable performance benchmarking across the water sector reduce data inconsistencies, data gaps and lack of comparability underpin markets redress declining community confidence in national water management

12 The Need for Reform in Water Data Current data arrangements do not reflect well on the Australian water management community There is a once in a generation opportunity to lift Australia s performance in water data to world s-best Technology no longer the limiting factor; public expectations of accessibility are rising rapidly Better management of water data = better management of water

13 An Opportunity for Smart Metering and Billing all governments must finally cooperate across jurisdictions on the open exchange of water data and water accounting information. - Prime Minister 17 July 2006

14 The NWC and the Water Data Issue Data deficiencies identified in NWI NWC describes the data problem in its Baseline Assessment NWC convenes National Water Data Summit Water Ministers note need for action Prime Minister highlights issue National Plan for Water Security dedicates $480m to the Bureau of Meteorology

15 Principles for NWI Water Data-Sharing 1. Arrangements for management of data about Australia s water should be an exemplar for data management in other sectors. 2. Water data should be regarded as a national asset. It should be readily accessible to all stakeholders for planning and management purposes. 3. Free and open access to water data should be the default position ; denial of access should be rare and exceptional. 4. Charges should not be imposed for data transfer beyond any direct costs imposed on the data custodian. 5. Common standards and protocols for data exchange should be urgently developed and implemented by all parties.

16 Good Water Metering should: 1. Provide cost-effective accuracy 2. Provide timely feedback to water managers and users 3. Provide seamless input into water resource management decisions 4. Provide seamless input into water revenue systems 5. Contribute to building community confidence Metering should be practical, accurate, credible, cost-effective and multi-purpose

17 Smart Water Metering and Billing Urban Opportunities To reduce costs (eg. remote reading) To manage leaks and breakages (10 percent losses!) To introduce time of day billing (penalties and happy hours) To introduce season of year billing To introduce variable, inclining, block tariffs (adjust blocks during year) To provide monthly billing (rapid feedback)

18 Smart Water Metering and Billing Urban Opportunities To provide last period / benchmark / target comparisons To improve compliance with water restrictions by informing consumers To enable targetted education / communications with consumers To enable water, gas and electricity metering and a billing integration ( green feedback ) To facilitate prioritisation of water distribution system investments

19 Smart Water Metering and Billing Urban Opportunities continued To provide discounts for meeting benchmarks; penalties for exceeding? To enable trading in water savings? To enable donations of water savings? To provide alerts, for sudden increases in consumption To provide disaggregation of industrial-scale water bills To enable integration of industrial water costs into the actively managed cost base

20 Smart Water Metering and Billing - Rural Opportunities Irrigation (and possibly even pricing) linked to soil moisture, salinity and ecological sensors Real time account balances enable efficient end-ofseason sales Real time metering enables more efficient trading in shares of delivery capacity May enable better groundwater management (levels, pressure)

21 Four Future Challenges 1. Challenge of integrating smart metering technologies with existing IT, data management, billing and planning infrastructure 2. Challenge of justifying expensive smart metering and billing for a low-cost product (water) 3. Challenge of identifying and developing national standards for smart metering, billing, and data exchange 4. Challenge of building an active consensus in support of smart metering

22 In short As the driest inhabited continent, Australia should be a leader in water data management. Smart metering and smart billing offer exciting new possibilities to improve water management