Malta will inevitably have to look at its power tariffs again as oil prices fluctuate, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said today.

He was speaking at the opening of an IBM workshop entitled "Empowering the Smartgrid: What next in Malta?"

During the workshop Dr Gatt said the creation of the smart grid and the introduction of smart meters would, for the first time, put consumers fully in control of their consumption. This technology also enabled the utility providers to provide intelligent night and day tariffs, issue actual bills (not estimates), issue bonuses for people paying on time, identify electricity patterns and design payment plans.

The introduction of the new technology would also end inaccurate meter reading. Utilities currently reported 13% of technology loses, but thanks to this new technology this rate would go down to 4%.

"If this is achieved in three to four years we will have achieved payback period of this €70 million," Dr Gatt said.

He said that as from next January a new accounting system would be functioning and customers (those with smart meters and those without) would start receiving new bills with an informative format.