Smart meters need smart consumers

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 13:31

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Smart meters are an essential first step towards a fully-functioning smart grid.  Energy users will be able to gain insights into exactly how they are using energy and when.  It is hoped that this immediate feedback will motivate consumers to take control of their usage when in the past not much thought was given to wasting electricity.

“In a sense, this program is a kind of keeping up with the Joneses strategy for energy efficiency,” said Anne Pramaggiore, president and chief operating officer at Commonwealth Edison.  ComEd, an Illinois utility, recently completed a pilot program involving 50,000 customers where feedback was offered monthly through an online Web portal.  ComEd now plans to expand the program after the pilot resulted in a 2 percent reduction of energy use.

Not everyone is convinced that feedback will prod customers to make better choices.  Duke Energy is conducting similar tests in Ohio and Ted Schultz, vice president of marketing and energy efficiency at the utility, told the Chicago Tribune that customers aren’t interested in taking an active role in how they use energy.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is dealing with a large number of complaints after smart meters were installed in Bakersfield, California.  Residents there have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that bills went up after the new meters were placed.  Officials at PG&E claim the higher bills came about during an unusually hot summer and a rate hike.  The problem was compounded because PG&E customers didn’t shift demand to off-peak times.

Shifting demand to off-peak time periods is essential for a successful smart meter program.  Customers that pay attention to their smart meters are informed precisely how much their consumption is costing them and if they choose to perform power-intensive tasks, such as running the dishwasher, to off-peak times then they will save on their bills.  As more and more consumers adapt this behavior the utility is better able to manage demand and doesn’t have to add capacity as often during demand spikes.

The question remains whether energy consumer behavior can be changed.  Perhaps PG&E could have done a better job to inform its customers about what they needed to do in order to reduce costs.  Rate hikes are passed without much fanfare and the average person has no idea how much they are paying per kilowatt hour.

David Gershon, chief executive officer of the Empowerment Institute, recently wrote in the Huffington Post that customers that do take charge of their energy usage “will not only slow the deterioration of our climate system, but also help create a ‘carbon-literate’ society desirous of bold government climate policies and demand for the low carbon products and services on which much of the U.S. economic future is being built.”

The U.S. Department of Energy certainly believes in the power of smart meters and announced last October that 2.5 million would be installed throughout the country over the next several months.  The hard part, it seems, is motivating homeowners to use them.

ComEd
P.O. Box 805379
Chicago, IL 60680-5379
https://www.comed.com

Duke Energy
526 South Church Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
http://www.duke-energy.com

Pacific Gas & Electric
PO Box 56
Avila Beach, CA 93424-0056
http://www.pge.com

Empowerment Institute
PO Box 428
Woodstock, New York 12498
http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/