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How do meters mediate? Energy meters, boundary objects and household transitions in Australia and the United Kingdom
Citation
Lovell, H and Pullinger, M and Webb, J, How do meters mediate? Energy meters, boundary objects and household transitions in Australia and the United Kingdom, Energy Research & Social Science, 34 pp. 252-259. ISSN 2214-6296 (2017) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2017 Elsevier Ltd.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.erss.2017.07.001
Abstract
This paper investigates the changing role of an integral but often overlooked technology within our energy systems: the meter. Empirical cases from the United Kingdom and Australia demonstrate the repurposing of the energy meter. No longer just an instrument of metrology, the meter is increasingly seen by utilities and governments as a key enabling technology for a raft of objectives, from tariff reform to peak load reduction. We draw on the Science and Technology Studies concept of a boundary object to explore these changes. A boundary object is conceptualised as positioned between different social worlds – such as those of householders, government, and utilities – and as having sufficient interpretive flexibility to mediate between their distinct interests. Here we use the boundary object concept to explain the ways in which the meter is being reconfigured, and in particular to analyse the role of householders in the transition to digital meters.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | energy meters; digital meters; UK; Australia |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Sociology and social studies of science and technology |
Objective Division: | Energy |
Objective Group: | Energy storage, distribution and supply |
Objective Field: | Smart grids |
UTAS Author: | Lovell, H (Professor Heather Lovell) |
ID Code: | 122020 |
Year Published: | 2017 |
Funding Support: | Australian Research Council (FT140100646) |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 6 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2017-10-25 |
Last Modified: | 2018-04-19 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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