Metering Homes: Do Energy Efficiency and Privacy Need to be in Conflict?

Abstract

The European directive on energy efficiency requires that all meters in multi-apartment buildings<br>installed after 25 October 2020 shall be remotely readable devices where technically feasible and<br>cost effective in terms of being proportionate in relation to the potential energy savings. In<br>practise, this means that some manufacturers produce meters that monitor energy consumption<br>in very short intervals, for example, less than two minutes; even though the directive expects to<br>provide billing information to consumers only once a month starting from 2022. This paper<br>reviews privacy and security risks stemming from the short readouts and provides<br>recommendations for manufacturers and suppliers. The paper focuses on a Wireless M-Bus<br>metering devices that we observed being sold and advertised as the solution to fulfill the<br>European directive on energy efficiency requirements. Nevertheless, we believe that many<br>recommendations and observations are applicable also to other protocols.

The European directive on energy efficiency requires that all meters in multi-apartment buildings<br>installed after 25 October 2020 shall be remotely readable devices where technically feasible and<br>cost effective in terms of being proportionate in relation to the potential energy savings. In<br>practise, this means that some manufacturers produce meters that monitor energy consumption<br>in very short intervals, for example, less than two minutes; even though the directive expects to<br>provide billing information to consumers only once a month starting from 2022. This paper<br>reviews privacy and security risks stemming from the short readouts and provides<br>recommendations for manufacturers and suppliers. The paper focuses on a Wireless M-Bus<br>metering devices that we observed being sold and advertised as the solution to fulfill the<br>European directive on energy efficiency requirements. Nevertheless, we believe that many<br>recommendations and observations are applicable also to other protocols.