ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by looking at energy-related practices with an innocent eye, asking what energy users might be expected to know about the nature of their demand from the signs available. Focusing mainly on energy use in the home, it draws attention to some of the things that we notice, do not notice and cannot notice when we use different fuels or energy sources, and connects these with the infrastructures and networks of things, people and practices that make up energy systems. This forms the background to a discussion of the changes in gas and electricity metering that are now under way. I touch on how ‘smarter’ meters relate to government, utility and customer objectives, and discuss some of the ways in which new metering arrangements may take their place in energy systems. They will do so by not only recording consumption but giving it a new dimension (time of use), and acting as a form of communication between end-users, suppliers and even appliances. What potential do new meters and associated communication technologies hold for improving energy literacy?
