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Smart Meters are coming…

Posted on October 6th, 2010 by Sulaiman

Smart meter technology is being implemented all over the world and now it’s becoming more and more popular here in the states and I ask myself the question why? The short answer I came up with was that the utility companies are trying to save money and address a problem at the same time. So what’s the problem?

The problem

The U.S. electric grid is an “aging infrastructure” made up of a network of complex independently owned and operated power plants/transmission lines and when combined with a rise in domestic electricity consumption it puts a strain on the electrical system (grid). When there is a strain on the electrical system (grid) or when electricity demanded surpasses the electricity supplied the utility company must respond. Utility companies can respond in a few ways; purchase more electricity/build new infrastructure to handle the load or implement “rolling blackouts” or  “brownouts” to reduce the load.

A rolling blackout is a deliberate interruption of service produced by utility companies in order to take stress off of the system’s energy load and prevent a “blackout” which is a complete interruption of power in a given service area. Rolling blackouts are usually intended to affect only a specific service area, and the energy provider will typically spread them among several service areas to insure that no specific area suffers substantially more than any other.

Brownouts are also deliberately produced by energy providers as an emergency measure to prevent the system from failing completely (blacking out). Typically, a utility company will decrease system voltage by 10-25%, usually for a short period of time.

In addition, electricity pricing is a problem. The problem is that electricity prices usually peaks at certain predictable times of the day and the season. In particular, if generation is constrained, prices can rise from other jurisdictions or more costly generation is brought online. Since the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing throughout the world, government regulators have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Traditional electrical meters only measure total consumption and as such, provide no information of when the energy is being consumed.

 The solution

A “Smart Electric Grid” and one component of that smart grid is  “Smart Metering” which provides an economical way of measuring real-time energy consumption, allowing price setting agencies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.

It is believed that billing customers by how much is consumed and at what time of day will force consumers to adjust their consumption habits to be more responsive to market prices. Regulatory and market design agencies hope these “price signals” will delay the construction of additional generation or at least the purchase of energy from higher priced sources, thereby controlling the steady and rapid increase of electricity prices.

Many utility companies worldwide are now beginning to implement “Smart Meters”.

What are smart meters?

Smart meters are “digital” devices that allow wireless two-way communications between your home or business and your local utility company and unlike traditional “analog” meters they have the ability to transmit and receive data in real-time.  

Smart meter illustration

 

Smart meter benefits?

Customers

Smart meters track the energy use in your home on an hourly basis and send this information automatically to your local utility company.  By automating the meter-reading function, smart meters deliver a number of benefits:

• Enable special pricing options for customers to save energy and money.They support the implementation of Time-of-Use prices. By time-stamping your consumption data, local utility companies will be able to determine how much electricity was used during off-peak times and how much was consumed during on-peak periods. This capability allows homeowners to find electricity savings by shifting their electricity use. The Sobuka team blogged previously about how consumers will be able to see and control their energy usage in real-time thanks to smart grid technology such as smart meters. The blog is entitled “smart-grid-technology-for-your-home“.
• By tracking electricity use remotely, all bills will be based on real-time consumption – eliminating the need for estimated bills.
• Provide customers with enhanced energy information through the online My Account service, enabling them to better manage their energy use and costs.

Utility customers only save money when smart meters help them to cut their energy use. A good way to do that is by raising the price of electricity when demand is high, such as during the middle of a summer day, when high rates of air-conditioning use push the electric grid to capacity. Under such a scenario, known as dynamic or real-time pricing, it’s expected that customers adjust the temperature of their air conditioners a few degrees to save money. Consumers might chose to run their washing machine late at night when demand is lower and save even more.

 Utility

• Greater operational efficiencies in the management of local distribution systems.
• Make it easier to integrate renewable energy, such as wind power, and plug-in vehicles into the electric system.
• Help improve customer reliability and outage management.
• Improved outage detection, restoration, two-way communications can be used to “ping” a meter when the system detects an outage or when a customer calls regarding an outage to determine whether or not the outage is on the customer’s side of the meter, thereby avoiding a field crew dispatch. In the case of storm related outages, crews can be dispatched to the outage location or site of the problem as opposed to searching for the problem.
• Remote meter reading reduces labor, no need for manual meter readers. Instead there will be drive-by or walk-by meter reading which is faster and quicker. However, the utility companies say there will be no layoffs planned, employees currently working as meter readers will be offered other job opportunities and training.  Although a meter reader will no longer be reading the meter, utility companies will still need to have access to your meters for safety and regular maintenance. For quality assurance purposes, after the initial installation, a meter reader will continue to read your meter for billing until the new meter has been confirmed it’s reading reliably in the system.  This may take up to three months.
• Eventually, utility companies will able to control the strain on system during peak hours by controlling “smart thermostats” purchased by customers who agree to allow the utility company to control their heating and cooling during peak time to receive financial rebates. Heating and cooling amounts to almost 50% of an energy bill of a typical single family home.

Environment

• Reduces the need to build power plants, or avoiding the use of older, less efficient power plants as customers lower their electric demand.

This is beneficial for all utility customers because the costs of building new power plants or relying on older, less-efficient power plants are eventually passed on to customers in retail rates.  Building power plants that are necessary only for occasional peak demand is very expensive.  A more economical approach is to enable customers to reduce their demand through time-based rates or other incentive programs. When the utilities avoid the use of “peaker” plants to meet high demand, the environment benefits because peaker plants typically have higher greenhouse gas and other air emissions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that if the grid were merely 5 % more efficient, the energy savings would equal the fuel and greenhouse emissions from 53 million cars. As the United States accounts for 25 % of the world’s greenhouse emissions, this change could go a long way toward reducing the effects of climate change.

Smart meter fears?

Higher bills once smart meter is installed

Just like the current analog meters, the cost is part of the overall bill. The cost for smart meters, as with all meters or equipment purchased, is part of regular business expenses and is recovered in rates. Utility companies expect some installation errors with smart meters will lead to a small number of customers being overcharged, during initial rollout.

Smart meter RF (Radio- Frequency) antennas are a potential health threat

The technology being used in the Smart meter system has been tested and meets Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines.  

The FCC’s guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields were adopted from limits recommended by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and the C95.1-1992 guidelines developed by the American National Standards Institute and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

How do you know that the billing usage data being sent wirelessly is actually my data and does not belong to my neighbor?

When data is collected from a meter and transmitted wirelessly to the utility company, the data contains specific unique identifiers associated with the customers meter number and service address. These fields are validated numerous times to ensure accuracy before the data is used for Billing. This process is similar to the cell phone technology where each cell phone has a unique number that goes with every communication which is used to identify a cell tower and connect your call to the correct location.  

More smart meter questions?

When Will I Get My Smart Meter?

Crews will begin installing the smart meters in October 2010 and will continue with the installation process through December 2011 until all District customers receive a new meter. An installer will knock on your door before the installation begins. If no one is home, a door hanger will be left advising that the work has been completed or that the customer should call and set up an appointment with Scope Services, the contractor performing this work for Pepco.

Will I Receive Any Notice Before the Meter Exchange?

A letter, along with a fact sheet, will be mailed to every customer approximately one to four weeks before the planned meter exchange.

What Do I Have to Do?

The good news is that there is very little you have to do during this process. The untiltity comapanies  encourages everyone to make sure your meter is easily accessible from the outside. When the time gets closer for you to get your meter, you will receive more information, including a letter and a fact sheet on how to prepare for the meter exchange.

Will I Lose Power During the Meter Exchange?

The meter exchange may result in a brief interruption of electric service and you may need to reset your clocks and other electronic equipment after the exchange. If you are on life support you can check and see if your utility company has an Emergency Medical Equipment Notification Program and register for it so that you can  receive proper notification. In addition, installers will knock on your door before they begin the installation to make sure it is OK to interrupt your service for a brief period. If you are not home or cannot take a brief power interruption, we will leave a door hanger instructing you to call to set up an appointment.

What Types of Costs Will I Incur?

Pepco is making the initial investment in smart meters for its customers. As of now, there are no additional costs associated with you receiving your smart meter. Pepco has received $34.1 million in federal stimulus grants to help fund Pepco’s smart meter program in the District of Columbia. These funds will help to offset the cost of this project to customers. However, it may be determined at a later rate case that some costs will be passed on to customers. Pepco indicated that it’s their goal for their customers to reap longterm benefits and advantages from the new smart meters that will outweigh any costs associated with the installation.

Will I need to replace or upgrade my electric meter panel for the new meters?

No, The smart meters are the same size as the existing electric meters. Utility companies do not foresee the need for meter panels to be upgraded or replaced.

At what frequency does the smart meter operate and will it interfere with other wireless devices in my home?

Smart meters run on two frequencies. The frequency communicating to the electric meter is 900 MHz (megahertz). If the premise also has a gas meter, the frequency from the electric meter to the gas meter is 2.4 GHz (gigahertz). The electric meter frequency is similar to a cell phone and the gas meter frequency is similar to a computer router. Neither device will interfere with any wireless devices in the home.

In summary, 43% of U.S. homes will have the new meters by 2014, according to forecasts from researcher Parks Associates, up from 14 percent at the end of last year.

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Tags: digital meters, meters, smart grid, Smart meters, time-of-use pricing, two-way communication

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Environment, Featured Content, Green Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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