By Alex Geller
posted
Aug 15, 2012
In many Vermont communities, we are now seeing smart meters
replace traditional analog meters. While we may not notice
much of a difference in our service up front, this change will
facilitate many benefits for how we use electricity in the near
future. The purpose of this article is to clarify why these changes
are happening, what benefits they currently provide, and what
opportunities they will make available to us in the future.
Power Grid: Since the electric light bulb's introduction
in the 1870's, public utilities have formed across the country for
the purpose of supporting networks of power lines that meet the
electricity demands of residential, commercial, and industrial
consumers. At one end of the power line sits a generator, or
power plant, and at the other end, the consumer. This basic layout
has remained largely unchanged for more than 100 years.
Smart Meter: In 2009, 20 Vermont electric utilities applied for
and were awarded with a US Department of Energy grant that provided
$69 million to help retrofit nearly every household in Vermont with
a smart meter. What differentiates this meter from our old,
analog meter is the time interval between readings. With
analog meters, an electric utility worker would visit our homes
about once a month and read the meter to calculate our consumption
over the past 30 days. Although we pay a constant rate for
electricity, the utility buys power from many different sources of
generation, and those prices can fluctuate by the minute. In
order to determine how much we owe, the utility does its best to
calculate the average cost of electricity over a long period of
time (subject to the Public Service Board's approval). This
rate assumes that our consumption can only be checked once a month,
meaning that we cannot take advantage of electricity when it is
inexpensive and plentiful.
With a smart meter, our consumption can be communicated every 15
seconds, which will allow for the utility to charge us, the
customers, a rate that is closer to the real cost of electricity
throughout the day. This is called a "time of use" rate
structure. For now, the utilities are busy deploying the new
network of smart meters and will continue to charge the same flat
rate that we have traditionally paid. The immediate advantages are
that utilities do not need to send someone to read your meter every
month, and when your power is interrupted, the utility is
automatically notified. While the new smart meters are being
deployed, our utilities are busy developing a new breed of billing
system that will handle this time of use rate structure so that
Vermonters experience a detailed, accurate and easy to understand
bill at the end of the month. Although some utilities currently
have a time of use rate structure available, it is mostly reserved
for net-metered customers with some form of renewable energy (i.e.
solar or wind), and some legacy CVPS customers. To find out if you
can take advantage of these rates once your new meter is installed,
you can inquire directly with your provider.
Smart Grid: Modern pressures such as climate change and
unsustainable pricing for energy have inspired a movement that
trades Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensive power production, like
burning fossil fuels, for clean and renewable power, like solar and
wind as well as investments in energy efficiency. Although we
have recently seen a reduction in our GHG emissions, adoption of
renewable energy is slow and improving efficiency is a tedious and
costly endeavor. However, a solution to these challenges can be
found: it's called the smart grid and it is powered by smart
meters.
The smart grid is a catalyst that will directly help change the
way we use electricity. Currently, when electricity demand
peaks in the summer, the utilities need to meet that demand with
additional generation to avoid brown-outs and blackouts. This
is often accomplished with diesel and natural gas generators (known
as peak load generators) which are both expensive to operate and
pollute the atmosphere. However, if the utilities can encourage and
incentivize customers to divert energy usage to "off-peak" or
low-demand periods (like nighttime) then demand for electricity
will lessen during those peak hours, thus reducing the need for
expensive, GHG intensive peak load generators. Smart meters make
this possible because they can inform the utility of how much power
you used and when you used it. This information will enable the
utility to offer you a reward, in the form of a lower rate during
off-peak hours. This will not only save everybody money and lessen
our GHG emissions, but will also help integrate more renewable
energy into our grid.
Smart Appliances: Smart grid technology will eventually provide
real-time market rates, giving the consumer a choice of how and
when to consume energy. The immediate advantage of this will be
realized by delaying the use of power intensive appliances, such as
electric water heaters and laundry dryers, to the evening, when
demand for power from the utility is low and therefore so is the
price. Eventually, appliances will communicate with your utility,
and can be set to turn on when the price for electricity has
reached a certain threshold that is set by the consumer. In fact,
the General Electric Company has introduced their BrillionTM line
of appliances that do exactly this.
Building on the idea of smart appliances, electric vehicles will
also take advantage of this time of use price structure due to the
fact that they recharge throughout the nighttime hours. This is
particularly attractive because 47% of Vermont's GHG emissions come
from the transportation sector. One technology that is currently in
development involves electric plug-in vehicles that are connected
to the grid. These vehicles are able to discharge energy when
the grid is under peak load, thereby avoiding the need to operate
peak load generators, while compensating the owner of the vehicle
with a premium for that service.
This same principle of real-time rate consumption can also be
applied to production. Brownouts usually occur during hot summer
days when people are relying heavily on A/C to combat the summer
heat. Coincidentally, solar power produces the most energy on
sunny days. Therefore, when demand is high enough to cause
brownouts, solar power, which is clean, plentiful and inexpensive,
as compared to peak load generators, is of great value to the
utilities in order to suppress the cost of electricity and avoid
outages.
With the implementation of smart meters, combined with
residential scale photovoltaic panels for private homes, the
utilities will be able to pay homeowners a premium for the energy
they produce while also avoiding reliance on peak load
generators. This means that not only will we reduce our
reliance on GHG intensive, and expensive peak load generators as
well as the occurrence of brown-outs, but we will strengthen our
renewable energy infrastructure. It will also provide
considerable market-based incentives to homeowners to bolster the
Vermont economy, and we will maintain our reputation for being a
leader in curbing our energy and carbon footprint.
Efficiency Vermont was the first ratepayer funded public energy
efficiency utility in the country, and Vermonters emit roughly 40%
less CO2 per capita than the average American due in part to
efficiency programs and the current low-carbon profile of the
electricity mix used in Vermont. By the end of 2013 the vast
majority of Vermont households will have smart meters, allowing for
Vermont to be the first smart grid state in the country while also
ensuring that we continue to be leaders with regard to preserving
our environment.
For more information, please visit the Public Service Department
webpage for the smart grid:
www.publicservice.vermont.gov/electric/smart-grid.html
Editor's note: Alex Geller works for the Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources and is on the Climate Change Team in Waterbury, Vt.
Tagged:
Smart Meters, Power Grid
