At iTNews, James Hutchinson reports that NBN executives have started up preliminary talks with NSW electricity suppliers on the rollout of smart electricity meters, which would then hook up to the NBN for real-time monitoring purposes.
Smart meters don’t necessarily need NBN-level bandwidth, but there’s some crossplay with installation, as the same trenches and conduits could be used for both electrical and broadband applications, as well as potentially using the same in-house termination points, according to the report.
It also notes that there’s a push to use an NBN-backed smart grid to speed the adoption of fast charging stations for electric vehicles, noting that New South Wales was particularly ill-equipped for those with electric cars; for example there’s apparently only one charging station in the entire Sydney CBD. [iTNews]