{"id":312494,"date":"2010-02-12T16:02:03","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T21:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenrightnow.com\/?p=8872"},"modified":"2010-02-12T16:02:03","modified_gmt":"2010-02-12T21:02:03","slug":"%e2%80%98smart%e2%80%99-meters-will-help-consumers-track-electricity-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/312494","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Smart\u2019 meters will help consumers track electricity use"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bill Sullivan<\/a><\/strong>
\nGreen Right Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

A sudden cold snap creates a spike in consumption. Christmas lights are fun at the time, but they, too, keep that meter running. Kids routinely leave electronics on, even when they\u2019re not in the room.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Advanced<\/p>\n

Advanced Metering System<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in a perfect world, can help keep cost and environmental impact down. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and a big number on that electric bill each month can come as a shock to both the system and the budget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But what if your world was just a little<\/em> more perfect? What if you could log on to your computer and check consumption down to, say, a 15-minute period? What if you could figure out that your teenager is running the TV, stereo, a game player (or two) and every light in his room — all despite the fact that he\u2019s spending the night at a friend\u2019s house?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the future of the Advanced Metering System (AMS), and that future is closer than you may think.<\/p>\n

In Texas, electric infrastructure provider Oncor<\/a> already has installed more than 700,000 of the new meters as part of its Smart Texas<\/a> program, and the company plans to roll out a total of about three million by 2012. The technology feeds information directly to your electricity service provider, eliminating the need for anyone to come read the meter. Once a new website is launched in the next few months, users will be able to access reports broken down into 15-minute intervals, allowing them to chart how much energy is being consumed in their home or business.<\/p>\n

It may not make your teen any more energy-efficient, but at least you\u2019ll have a little more information in the fight against high bills and increased carbon footprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about these meters is that they allow consumers to have, in their hands, real-time information so they can make better decisions about how they can use their electricity,\u201d said Megan Wright, an Oncor spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see, at 3 p.m, my energy use is spiking. That\u2019s when my kids are getting home from school. I need to talk to them about shutting the doors and not leaving the TV on while they\u2019re doing things in their room. It allows you to have control over your electric consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

How is all this being funded? By a service charge on the monthly electric bill, even for those who have yet to receive the new meter. According to an agreement with the Public Utility Commission, consumers will be levied $2.21 per month for the next 11 years to pay for equipment and installation.<\/p>\n

(And what about all the money saved by eliminating the meter readers? According to Oncor, the reduced personnel savings were built into the surcharge.)<\/p>\n

While Oncor\u2019s project is one of the largest around,\u00a0it is only part of a larger movement toward more manageable energy.<\/p>\n

In the Houston area, CenterPoint Energy is working with GE Digital Energy to provide similar service. Southern California Edison is implementing the new technology in portions of 15 counties. Pennsylvania Power & Light <\/a> has already outfitted more than a million customers in the Philadelphia area. In Canada, Toronto Hydro has transitioned more than 600,000 customers to smart meters.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, General Electric is expanding its smart metering efforts into China. GE is working with the city of Yangzhou, beginning with building a 100,000 square-foot lab to serve as a grid demonstration center.<\/p>\n

As often happens, progress comes with a price, and not just the one being added to your electric bill.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved Central Maine Power Company\u2019s proposal to spend $190 million (about half of that coming from a Department of Energy grant) to convert about 600,000 residences to advanced metering. The move immediately drew cries from union officials protesting the elimination of more than 100 jobs, but the PUC ignored the objections, citing overall cost savings.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking at getting into the game in a different way.\u00a0The software giant’s \u00a0Hohm<\/a> application is designed to help users assess usage without having a smart meter. The process requires the cooperation of the local utility, however, or users will have to enter their own data.<\/p>\n

Once installed, an Advanced Metering System will be able to communicate with in-home devices (display monitors, smart thermostats) to provide access to your usage information. Oncor currently is creating a Web portal where users will be able to view their information on a \u201cday after\u201d basis.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Web portal, customers will be able to employ an in-home display monitor, a wireless device that communicates with the AMS. The monitor also can convert that usage to a dollar amount to allow you to see how much you are spending at a given time. (The in-home monitor can be purchased through your retail electric provider or a retail specialty store.)<\/p>\n

The AMS also should allow\u00a0the power company\u00a0to know almost immediately if an outage has occurred at a home or business, speeding response time. The technology may even help identify\u00a0 issues before they turn into outages.<\/p>\n

\"Oncor<\/p>\n

Oncor Smart Texas Program<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As part of the educational process, Oncor\u00a0created the Smart Texas Mobile Experience Center<\/a>, a 53-foot trailer filled with interactive videos and live demonstrations. The trailer visits local fairs, festivals and the like, in addition to making stops at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe\u2019s parking lots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of people react very favorably about it,\u201d Wright said. \u201cThey come, they ask questions, they really want to know what they can do to use these meters to the best of their ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, you\u2019re constantly hearing about the \u2018green\u2019 movement. People are really concerned and wanting to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Coming soon: Another, smarter tool to help them do just that.)<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Green Right Now Network<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill Sullivan Green Right Now A sudden cold snap creates a spike in consumption. Christmas lights are fun at the time, but they, too, keep that meter running. Kids routinely leave electronics on, even when they\u2019re not in the room. Advanced Metering System Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}