Consumers and Smart Meters

Recently, the state ‘s Public Utility Commission has ordered Oncor to offer customers who bought smart meters free meter accuracy tests in order to garner public support. Customers already charged by Oncor will also be refunded the $25.00 charge for smart meter testing. Oncor usually receives about 400 requests a month to test smart meters, but in January and February the number jumped to a whopping 4000. Apparently smart meters aren’t all that smart.

This problem isn’t solely regulated to Texas either.  In California, people are making complaints about being charged thousands of dollars for appliances that aren’t even on in addition to the hiked rates though the Pacific Gas & Electric Meter Company says there are no problems and the bills are increased “because of a combination of regularly scheduled rate increases.” Are smart meters really a good idea from the consumer’s perspective?

Part of the purpose of smart meters is to inform users of their energy usage in order to change their energy habits by affecting the information they receive, but there is little evidence that this does anything to change their habits. Also, smart meters aren’t practical in every application. Some apartment buildings are bulk metered and would require expensive rewiring and renovating in order to allow individual apartments to be smart metered.

The whole concept is based around influencing people’s habits. While the information about the energy usage and carbon output of individual appliances might not affect much, the price fluctuation just might. Smart meters allow energy companies to charge more per kW-hr during peak times and less when there is less demand: basically a capitalistic approach based on demand. People don’t like this, as they see an increase in their electric bills, but from a global and corporate perspective it makes sense. So smart meters favor the community, at the cost of the individual, at least right now. In the future, when all the bugs have been worked out (if ever) and they are more commonplace, I expect the cost to the consumer to drastically fall off as demand-specific rates become the norm.

Smart meters are gaining popularity, but it seems like they are one of those things where people will only begrudgingly accept them over time.

References:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/energy/stories/DN-smartmeters_12bus.ART0.State.Edition1.3cf0a2b.html

http://www.smartmeters.com/the-news/99-smart-meter-benefits-widely-accepted-around-the-world.html

http://www.shscorp.ca/content/research/resources/Smart%20meters%20and%20social%20housing.pdf

http://www.heartland.org/infotech-news.org/article/26646/California_Residents_Feel_Cheated_by_Smart_Meters.html

What you can do

Government takes time to work, and does not always work towards what is best for the people it governs. We expect Congress to pass legislation to make companies function more efficiently and steer our country in the right direction, which most people would agree is in the direction of having a more stable energy supply.  Decreasing exports, increasing taxes on energy, alternative fuels, and more nuclear and coal plants are all possible solutions in the future, but right now, I believe the responsibility relies with the individual, and best place to start is in the home.

We all know the major ways to save energy in the home like watering your lawn at night and turning the temperature up a couple of degrees in the summer, but there are less obvious ways to save money and ease your dependence on the grid.

One of the easiest things to do is simply unplug. I, like many people, leave my printer and computer plugged in while at school. Even in standby it is still wasting energy and the waste can be eliminated by unplugging it while at school. Same goes for TVs which drain power from the grid while away. Basically, don’t leave any appliance on unless you need it to stay on, like your refrigerator.

Another way to keep your house running efficiently is clean your refrigerator. Say what? That’s right! If you clean dust off the motor, condenser coils, fins, etc. a couple times a year, your fridge will have to work less to achieve the same temperature. This in addition to making sure the seals remain tight and not putting the temperature lower than it needs to be will not only increase the life of the fridge but also increase the life of that dollar in your pocket. Oh, and be sure to not position the fridge somewhere where it receives direct sunlight as this will cause it to work harder.

You do however want to let the sunlight in pretty much everywhere else, especially in the winter. Letting lots of natural light in will ease your heater bill and allow you to turn off those fancy compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) you installed last week and make them last even longer! In the summer, it really becomes a cost benefit analysis. Letting the sun in increases the house temperature a tiny bit, but lets you keep the lights off which saves you a little bit. This is when you need to break out the heat transfer equations and engineering finance book and do it to it! I suspect it’s better to draw the shades in the summer and reflect the light unless for some reason you have dark colored blinds.

In the end, you can pass all the legislation that you want, but it starts with people.  Buying more efficient heaters, insulating your attic, and buying draft guards are all great ideas, but I really think it’s more important to start by making small changes in your daily routine.

Helpful Sites:

http://www.we-energies.com/residential/energyeff/101tips.htm
http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/tdrft_ontv.html