Amid some controversy, wireless meter-monitoring system to be
installed
While acknowledging
”
some controversy or concern
”
over the use of PG
&
amp;E’s new SmartMeter technology, the City of Hollister
recently agreed to a 20-year licensing agreement to allow the
utility to place data collection units on five local utility
poles.
Amid some controversy, wireless meter-monitoring system to be installed
While acknowledging “some controversy or concern” over the use of PG&E’s new SmartMeter technology, the City of Hollister recently agreed to a 20-year licensing agreement to allow the utility to place data collection units on five local utility poles.
As PG&E prepares to install the meters throughout San Benito County, starting in San Juan Bautista in October and continuing through next summer elsewhere, it recently sought permission to install boxes that will collect customers’ meter information and transmit it to the utility using wireless technology, foregoing the need for manual meter reading.
The licensing agreement, approved by the City Council two weeks ago, will pay the city $780 per streetlight, or $3,900 total, over the life of the contract.
“If they didn’t use our streetlights – if we said no – (PG&E) would find another place for them,” said Clifford Swanson, Hollister’s interim engineering manager.
City Manager Clint Quilter said controversy over the accuracy of the SmartMeters prompted staff to put the issue on the regular portion of the council agenda, instead of the consent agenda, in case council members wanted to express their views.
“We looked at all the complaints that people have made elsewhere, that’s why we put it on the (regular) agenda,” he said, adding that he hasn’t heard of any complaints from Hollister residents. “They’re going up anyway, so we might as well make a few bucks off of it.”
PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said the utility typically installs the network equipment in advance of setting up the meters, which will be installed throughout the county over the next year.
Moreno said the SmartMeters will record hourly electrical usage for residential customers and will transmit information about commercial energy usage every 15 minutes.
“Research has shown that if consumers have more information about energy usage then they use less because they conserve better,” he said. “Customers have said that it has helped them identify energy vampires and aging appliances that are using too much electricity.”
The controversy with the SmartMeter program has centered on customer complaints about utility bills spiking in the month after the new meters were installed.
The California Public Utilities Commission is conducting a probe into glitches that have affected approximately 50,000 customers and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors last week joined San Francisco in asking the state to place a moratorium on the SmartMeter installation.
“With any technology rollout, there are going to be situations that do occur and need to be corrected,” Moreno said. “With the SmartMeter program it’s important to know that the new meters function much better than the older ones so we have far fewer estimated bills and we give customers more information about their usage.”
SmartMeter technology, Moreno said, will ensure that customers will no longer have to unlock gates on days that they expect meter readers to be in their neighborhood and customers will have the option to pay rates based on the time of day.
“If we can encourage customers to reduce peak energy usage by either conserving or shifting electricity use to off-peak periods, we can better utilize the power grid and have less reliance on older, less efficient fossil fuel power plants,” he said.
Some SmartMeters are already in place in San Benito County, primarily in new home construction. However, those meters will be read manually until the rest of the neighborhood receives its meters.
Residents will receive a letter from PG&E a few weeks in advance of the meters being installed in their area.
For more information about the SmartMeter program go to www.pge.com/smartmeter or call 866-743-0263.
