Dublin, Ireland --- (METERING.COM) --- January 26, 2012 - Ireland’s Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has made publicly available an anonymised version of the smart metering gas customer behavior trial data.

This follows the release of similar anonymised data from the electricity customer behavior trials earlier this month. Like that data the gas smart meter data is available in the Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA).

The smart metering gas customer behavior trials took place during 2010 and 2011 with nearly 2,000 Irish homes participating. The purpose of the trials was to assess the impact on consumer’s gas consumption in order to inform the cost-benefit analysis for a national rollout. The trials found that smart meters, in combination with smart bills, in-home displays and variable tariffs, resulted in an average reduction in gas demand of 2.9 percent.

The CER said it is envisaged that the release of both of these sets of data will facilitate further research and the development of competitive products and services following the anticipated rollout of smart metering in Ireland.

The high level design for the rollout is expected to be announced by the end of January.