Abstract

Over the last few years, the need for electricity has increased in households as new and different appliances are progressively introduced. This increased demand for electricity raises a concern to many developed and developing countries since it is a human’s responsibility to assure a sustainable future. Energy demand management can be an effective approach to reduce the energy consumption; this approach requires final consumers to be empowered with more information for improving their decision-making and actions on the energy usage through increased awareness. Therefore, metering and behind the meter monitoring systems have a crucial role in the exploitation of this potential in the customer side.A significant disadvantage of traditional meters is the fact that they do not provide detailed information to the customers, which is achieved with the help of smart meters. A smart meter allows the customers to have access to the information about electricity consumption of the appliances in their houses. The acceptance of smart meters by customers is the fundamental step to achieve the potential carbon emission reductions that are provided by the use of advanced metering infrastructures.The smart meter is an advanced energy meter that measures consumption of electrical energy such as a traditional meter but also provides additional information in real time, making it the key element of the new energy demand management system. Integration of smart meters into electricity grids implies the implementation of several technologies, depending on the features that each situation request. The design of a smart meter has been in constant development since it is increasingly necessary to satisfy both the requirements of the utility company and those of the customer. Therefore, smart metering provides benefits to the energy utilities optimizing their business, and beyond that it can provide advantages to the final customers.All over the world many smart metering projects have been developed. However, it is still not entirely clear which are the associated costs, the characteristics, and the mechanisms internal to projects that bring advantages and benefits for the different concerned parties. The smart metering methods and the communication technologies used in smart grid are being substantially studied due to widespread applications of smart grid. The monitoring and control processes are largely used in industrial systems. Nevertheless, the energy management requirements at service supplier and customer promoted the evolution of smart grid and consequently the development of microgrids.This chapter discusses various characteristics and technologies that can be integrated with a smart meter for smart grids and microgrids uses. In fact, placement of smart meters needs proper selection and implementation of a communication network fulfilling the security standards of smart grid/microgrid communication. This chapter outlines various issues and challenges involved in design, deployment, utilization, and maintenance of the smart metering infrastructure.