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Smart meter specialist Bglobal (BGBL:AIM) is expected to announce within days plans to enter the Australian utility services market. The state of Victoria has already committed to the next-generation meters, which enable remote reading of energy usage, and there is growing political support for a national rollout.

The UK government is expected to provide an update later this month on its energy policy and may back smart meters. Bglobal chief executive Peter Kennedy believes it could call for all industrial and commercial users of energy to have smart meters within the next five years.

Bglobal is currently rolling out smart meters for 24,000 Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) customers and 8,000 units for Bizz Energy, an independent utility provider. It also has contracts with British Gas and Npower, but warned in December of less installations than expected.

‘Contracts have been slow to roll out as energy suppliers are being cautious until the government makes a decision on smart meters,’ said Kennedy.

The company is confident that smart meters will become standard practice in time. They make it easier to record accurate usage data, provide correct bills without the need for estimations and detect service outages.

Bglobal claims it can read 5,000 meters in four minutes using normal PCs. ‘This would be much faster with industrial machines,’ added Kennedy.

In addition to Australia, the company plans to expand into Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Germany.

Shares says: Until the UK government green lights smart meters, the shares will stay weak. Profit isn’t forecast until 2009 so investors will need patience.