While California struggles to garner consumer support for smart meters, other areas of the United States are moving ahead with smart energy initiatives. The city of Boulder, Colorado, for example, has been named the SmartGridCity.  It is the first community in the United States with a power system that blends traditional and digital technology including smart meters into an advanced electric grid.

Like the smart meters planned for British installation, Boulder’s computerized meters transmit real-time energy data back and forth between consumers’ homes and Xcel Energy, the city’s energy utility. The meters enable homeowners to choose when, how much and what kind of energy they use. The practical advantages for Xcel include the ability to manage power more efficiently, automatically prevent power outages and repair service outages more quickly. Xcel estimates typical winter outages caused by snowstorms will be repaired in half the time than it traditionally took thanks to the instant information provided by the smart meters.

By the beginning of 2010, it is estimated 700,000 advanced smart meters and corresponding communications systems will have been installed in Texas, led by Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC, the largest utility company in Texas. Oncor indirectly provides electricity via 117,000 miles of transmission lines across the state and expects to have replaced the 3.4 million residential and small commercial meters in its system by 2012. Oncor’s “Smart Texas Initiative” is one of the largest smart-grid projects in the United States. The Dallas area has seen a reported 10 percent reduction in overall energy consumption since the installation.

Unlike traditional power companies, Oncor does actually not own any power plants; it transmits the energy to retail electric providers who in turn compete for customers. There are eight regulated transmission businesses in Texas, and Oncor provides for seven million of the state’s approximate 21 million residents.

In early 2010, Oncor’s system will be linked to an online portal that enables consumers to monitor energy consumption data and retail electric providers to interact with both the customers and the equipment.

A study by Brattle Group concluded that a modest five percent national reduction in peak demand would eliminate the need for 600 environmentally unfriendly power plants and save approximately $3 billion.

In response to some consumer advocacy groups’ complaints, Oncor acknowledges it is charging customers a monthly $2.21 equipment fee for the smart meter system but points out that analysis estimates a monthly savings of $18 will offset the fee by the time the installation is complete in 2012.

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