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| NEWS ANALYSIS | | 14-Sep-2010 | | | What’s the Truth about Smart Meters? |
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Smart-grid technologies are often heralded as a “hotspot” in the M2M (machine-to-machine) industry. Smart meters are looked to not only for the potential to save consumers money, but for the potential to cut back on energy usage across the nation, and across the world. But in this nation, not everyone is sold on the concept. So, what’s the truth about smart meters?
The results of a smart-metering pilot in Washington, D.C., announced this week, reflect a positive attitude toward the technology—at least among many in the nation’s capitol. According to the report released by Pepco, www.pepco.com, an energy provider in the District, more than 90% of participants saved money thanks to “PowerCentsDC”—which explicitly recruited low-income consumers as test households.
PowerCentsDC piloted advanced metering with variable pricing plans, including “critical peak pricing” and “hourly pricing.” When asked, the report says most participants preferred the variable PowerCentsDC rates to the flat rates customers were historically charged on a monthly basis. Pepco says similar smart-grid technologies will be installed throughout D.C. before the end of 2011.
But the positive smart-meter vibes felt in D.C. are not necessarily shared nationwide—just ask PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Co.), www.pge.com, a San Francisco-based utility company that serves 15 million people in Northern and Central California.
During mid-to-late 2009 and early 2010, as PG&E began rolling out smart meters to its customers, complaints of foul play began rolling in. Many customers became suspicious of their new smart meters, claiming the move to “high-tech” meter readers was really just leading to higher bills.
To address the issue, a third-party advisory and consulting business called Structure, www.thestructuregroup.com, conducted a five-month evaluation and assessment of PG&E’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure system—focusing on residential customers.
Results were announced last week. According to the evaluation, the smart meters are consistent with industry standards, accurately record usage, and correctly process data and billing.
But California consumers were not just imagining steeper bills, in some cases they were indeed more expensive and Structure’s assessment discovered why. Rather than faulty smart meters or faulty technology, the company says the smart-meter deployment coincided with a few unrelated factors that created a spike in electricity bills, including a heat wave and rate increases.
The assessment also concluded there were “gaps” in customer service and found the processes related to the handling of high bill complaints were partially non-compliant to industry best practices.
Additionally a lack of consumer education was a major problem during deployment, the assessment concluded. “Customer skepticism regarding the new advanced-metering technology was not addressed early or effectively by PG&E,” says the report. “PG&E’s customer complaint resolution process did not utilize detailed interval read information available from smart meters, which may have assisted customers’ understanding of their individual hourly usage patterns.”
Structure concludes smart-meter programs need to succeed in more areas than just technology if they wish to deploy an advanced-metering infrastructure on a large scale. With a lack of proper communication and a customer-service set-up that left much to be desired, consumers in California feared the worst about their smart meters, while pilot subjects in D.C. raved about theirs.
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