Nicolas Kayser-Bril, on Twitter @nicolaskb and @AutomatdSociety, has been a data journalist from the very beginning. Using methods of social network analysis, he examined and visualized corruption networks when others still considered Der Spiegel to be the most progressive investigative medium. He also turned to the victims of the Mediterranean wall earlier than many with data analysis methods. He is now one of the most important minds behind Algorithm Watch and recently wrote a really readable text in the Algorithm Watch Newsletter entitled: “Smart meters are coming. Who will benefit from them?” In English: “Smart electricity meters are on the rise. Who will benefit from them?”
His conclusion:
Even under normal conditions, smart meters are unlikely to reduce aggregate demand. In Germany, the poor (households with a monthly net income of less than ā¬1,300) spend twice as much on electricity as the rich (income over ā¬5,000). The rich, who use far more electricity, have far less incentive to switch off their devices at peak times, with or without smart meters.
Instead of touting smart meters as the solution to our energy problems, I wish we would replace 500,000-watt electric cars with public transit or 250-watt e-bikes. I’m not too optimistic, but maybe we could call them “smart AI augmented hyperbikes” to get decision makers’ attention?
More about Nicolas Kayser-Bril, with whom I have had the opportunity to work many times at the Berliner Gazette conferences, can be found here: https://algorithmwatch.org/en/team/nicolas-kayser-bril/