![]() The most common SmartMeter problem boils down to human error. Two of the companies that make SmartMeters or their components – Landis+Gyr and Silver Spring Networks – also supplied information for this story. The Chronicle spoke at length with Helen Burt, PG&E’s chief customer officer, and Bill Devereaux, senior director of the SmartMeter program, about those problems and their solutions. All of the problems identified to date can be easily fixed, says PG&E. ![]() PG&E’s findings so far don’t explain every customer complaint about SmartMeters, and there remain a handful of meters spotted by PG&E that failed for reasons the utility doesn’t yet understand. However, the company’s internal investigation has found several recurring problems with the meters and their installation. PG&E insists that most of the soaring bills blamed on SmartMeters were actually caused by high electricity rates and heat waves. About 5.7 million have been installed so far. California energy regulators have launched an independent investigation, expected to last four to six months, that will subject the devices to a battery of tests in the field and in the lab. Since last summer, California’s largest utility has faced a customer uprising over the meters, which were designed to measure power use with precision and wirelessly transmit their data to PG&E.Īngry homeowners have accused the meters of gross inaccuracy, blaming them for monthly bills that in some cases doubled without warning. has found a number of reasons why almost 45,000 of its SmartMeters haven’t worked as planned. They represent a vital investment in our clean energy future that will pay dividends for years to come.Note: The following story by David Baker appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 31, 2010.įaulty calibration. The benefits of smart meters will grow as they are deployed to all PG&E customers. New home energy displays and smart appliances that take advantage of meter capabilities are only now just beginning to find their way to market. Smart meters will take time to show their full promise. "Demand response can provide all or a portion of the flexibility required for this integration." noted last year, "Variable resources, for example wind generation, often need a 'dance partner' which can provide operational flexibility to maintain reliability" when energy output fluctuates. Nine in 10 said they intended to stick with the program.īesides slashing the need for new generation, "demand response" programs like SmartRate, facilitated by smart meters, offer another environmental benefit: They will help utilities manage the critically important shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.Īs the North American Electric Reliability Corp. On the nine peak SmartDay events called by PG&E last year, participating customers cut their usage by an average of 17 percent. ![]() The program gives enrolled customers a discount on summer electricity usage in return for a surcharge on electricity used during afternoon hours on no more than 15 days in summer when soaring temperatures drive up demand on PG&E's grid. More than 25,000 PG&E customers are now enrolled in SmartRate, the first Critical Peak Pricing Program in the United States to use data from smart meters. The result: Customers save money and help the environment. Timely reductions in electric demand reduce the need to fire up expensive fossil-fueled "peaker" power plants, thus minimizing air pollution and carbon emissions. offer voluntary pricing programs that reward customers for cutting back on energy during periods of peak demand, typically scalding days when air conditioners are turned up high. Smart meters also let utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The more conscious customers are of their energy use, and the more empowered they are to change it, the more they tend to save. Smart-meter-enabled systems will give customers immediate visibility into their real-time energy use and the ability to manage it remotely - via the Web or cell phone - down to individual appliances. Smart meters can also communicate with in-home displays that show customers how much energy they are using and at what price, and with smart appliances, which can be programmed to operate during hours when there's less demand for power and lower prices.
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