With the energy transition, the Netherlands faces a significant challenge. Many parties are therefore working towards goals such as reducing CO2 emissions, increasing renewable energy, enhancing energy savings, and reducing dependence on natural gas. To measure the progress of these efforts and formulate new policies in the field of climate and sustainability, as accurate information as possible about gas and electricity consumption in homes is indispensable. With the advent of smart meter data, CBS can now monitor more accurately on a monthly basis instead of estimating, as was done previously.
CBS can now work with more exact and up-to-date figures on gas and electricity consumption in homes. This is because monthly meter readings are now available from nearly 14.2 million smart meters in households. Previously, energy consumption was estimated based on consumption in the previous year, taking the weather into account. Thanks to the arrival of smart meter data, this is no longer necessary. Moreover, the data that CBS publishes on gas and/or electricity consumption is anonymous and cannot be traced back to individual households (see also the link below to the strict privacy rules that CBS adheres to, ed.).

Significant Step

‘It can now be monitored more accurately than before,’ says CBS researcher energy statistics Mark Mangnus. ‘And we have the opportunity to gain new insights. If a home has a smart meter, the network operator can read the data on gas and/or electricity consumption.’ That CBS can now access this data is considered by Mangnus to be a significant step.

Actual Consumption

The researcher illustrates the progress with an example. ‘Suppose we want to know the gas and electricity consumption over 2023 for the entire country or a region, but not all consumers have yet received their annual bill from their energy supplier. CBS does not have these figures either. The supplier then makes an estimate. In 2022, an imaginary group of households consumed an average of 1000 cubic meters of gas. It was a warm year. In 2023, it was slightly colder on average, so likely more than 1000 cubic meters were consumed that year. Thanks to the data from smart meters, we no longer base our estimates on assumptions but on the actual consumption of an anonymized group of meters. And that also on a monthly basis instead of annually.’

Rising Prices

Let it be clear: the figures on gas and electricity consumption in homes were previously quite reliable. Mangnus: ‘CBS has always been able to work well with the estimated figures. But in recent years, the behavior of many consumers has changed due to rising energy prices. There was a financial incentive to use less energy. As a result, consumption in the past year has become a less reliable predictor for consumption in the current year.’

Changed Housing Stock

Additionally, the housing stock has changed, says Mangnus. ‘In the future, the classic home with a central heating boiler will no longer be the norm. More and more homes are being heated without or almost without natural gas, using a heat pump or district heating. Additionally, more and more homes are getting solar panels or a charging station for electric cars. These new developments are happening quickly and affect the accuracy of traditional estimates based on the past year. This is because energy consumption in the past mainly depended on the weather, but we now also have to consider changes in heating behavior and sustainability measures. These changes are much harder to predict.’

Climate Agreement

The national government needs as accurate information as possible about gas and electricity consumption. This allows it to monitor to what extent our country is succeeding in achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Therefore, the ministries of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) and Climate and Green Growth (KGG) have asked CBS to set up a current monthly statistic on gas and electricity supplies to different types of homes and non-homes via VIVET in 2023. This was done in collaboration with Energy Data Services Netherlands (EDSN). This is the IT cooperation platform of the six regional and two national network operators.

Nearly 14.2 Million Smart Meters

Wessel Popma is a business analyst at EDSN. He says: ‘One of our activities is managing the data that network operators have read from smart meters. In recent years, more and more homes have received such a meter. As of April 9 of this year, there were nearly 14.2 million that we are allowed and able to read on behalf of the network operators: about 8 million for electricity and approximately 6.2 million for gas. Data from 99.6 percent of these smart meters is read, which EDSN can then store for 24 months. We therefore have a wealth of data at our disposal and find it interesting that CBS can now – at the request of the ministries – create statistics based on smart meter data.’

Interpreting Smart Meters

Mangnus: ‘We had a new, complicated puzzle to solve. How do you interpret smart meter data? Thanks to EDSN, we were able to delve into the data. This helped us, for example, in writing a technical statistical document for CBS. In it, the old and new methods are compared, and the advantages of smart meter data are explained.’ That CBS now works with figures on the actual amount of gas and electricity consumed per month is a significant improvement. In a later phase, it may be possible to calculate values per quarter.

Policymakers

And where will the figures be found? Mangnus: ‘The data will, among other things, be included in our publications on energy consumption in homes. The data will also be used for the annual Climate and Energy Outlook. Policymakers can then base their decisions on information that is more accurate than before.’

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