Silver Spring rides into Melbourne for smart grid rollout

Victoria's smart grid plan, as announced by energy and resources Minister Peter Batchelor earlier this month, will give 2.5 million Victorians the ability to monitor their own energy use and allow utilities to read, connect or disconnect meters remotely and respond faster to power outages.

US vendor Silver Spring Networks announced it has been contracted by Victorian power utilities United Energy Distribution (UED) and Jemena to roll out smart meters over the next four years, starting in September.

UED provides power to 660,000 people in South-East Melbourne and on the Mornington Peninsula, while Jemena serves 320,000 more in North and Inner-West Melbourne.

Three more Victorian power utilities are expected to roll-out their own smart metering technology in the same time frame.