Smart meter data privacy: A survey

Abstract

Automated and smart meters are devices that are able to monitor the energy consumption of electricity consumers in near real-time. They are considered key technological enablers of the smart grid, as the real-time consumption data that they can collect could enable new sophisticated billing schemes, could facilitate more efficient power distribution system operation and could give rise to a variety of value-added services. At the same time, the energy consumption data that the meters collect are sensitive consumer information; thus, privacy is a key concern and is a major inhibitor of real-time data collection in practice. In this paper, we review the different uses of metering data in the smart grid and the related privacy legislation. We then provide a structured overview, shortcomings, recommendations, and research directions of security solutions that are needed for privacy-preserving meter data delivery and management. We finally survey recent work on privacy-preserving technologies for meter data collection for the three application areas: 1) billing; 2) operations; and 3) value-added services including demand response.