Malta to be totally "smart metered" by 2012

Malta will be the first country with intelligent electricity meters installed in all its households and commercial outlets, IT Minister Austin Gatt said this morning.

Speaking during the second world oil and fuel summit, the minister said the intelligent metres, which had already started being installed, would gradually replace the old ones and Malta should be totally smart metered by 2012. Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation, the minister said, had struck a deal with IBM to start installing intelligent meter technology.

On the cost of oil, the minister said that the government had, through subsidies, shielded consumers’ from the true cost which led them to not understand its true value.

The policy was now that no subsidies would be given, except to people who were really in need, since these created an artificially low energy cost.