  The widespread popularity of smart meters enables an immense amount of
fine-grained electricity consumption data to be collected. Meanwhile, the
deregulation of the power industry, particularly on the delivery side, has
continuously been moving forward worldwide. How to employ massive smart meter
data to promote and enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the power grid
is a pressing issue. To date, substantial works have been conducted on smart
meter data analytics. To provide a comprehensive overview of the current
research and to identify challenges for future research, this paper conducts an
application-oriented review of smart meter data analytics. Following the three
stages of analytics, namely, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive
analytics, we identify the key application areas as load analysis, load
forecasting, and load management. We also review the techniques and
methodologies adopted or developed to address each application. In addition, we
also discuss some research trends, such as big data issues, novel machine
learning technologies, new business models, the transition of energy systems,
and data privacy and security.
