A New York Times headline this week proclaimed, ‘Smart’ Meters Draw Complaints of Inaccuracy. The article led with an example of a veteran who was receiving a wildly fluctuating electricity bill - often 50% higher than his previous bills - since December of 2009 when the smart meter had been installed. There have been growing rumblings among the estimated two million customers with new smart meters, but industry officials insist there are many explanations. They humbly admit a few meters have malfunctioned but insist these problems are being steadily resolved.
One problem with and benefit of change is that consumers may begin to pay attention. Although their kilowatt usage may decrease – which would lower their bill if the cost per kilowatt was static – some customers will pay a higher cost per kilowatt hour as energy sources and contracts fluctuate within their area.
After the smart devices are installed, utilities can track usage in real time. This has advantages in the event of a power outage but mostly with regard to managing ’peak’ use, anticipating demand and potentially charging more for the peak use hours. If the utilities are able to provide the information to consumers, this will give the latter an additional tool towards the goal of personal energy use reduction.
Regardless of how utilities track it, the cost of producing and distributing energy is rising and our budget-busting consumption is unsustainable. The smart meter was intended to capitalize on the benefit of creating awareness with individual metering. Sometimes called sub-metering in apartments, charging residents for their energy usage has been a very effective energy management tool. However, if we are going to transform passive energy consumers into active energy conservators, we need more than a good brochure.
Utility companies, government officials and social scientists all try to tackle consumer education with marketing campaigns that employ simplified science. In their defense, sometimes they work. In the case of the new ’smart meters’, however, this approach has definitively bombed. As the meters were being installed there was little effort to provide consumers with simultaneous and broad education on lowering energy usage. The focus was to get the meters installed as this was the challenge from the utility’s standpoint.
Because it does seem counter-intuitive to expect utilities – which generate revenue on how much energy they sell – to voluntarily lower consumption, it shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers have been leery. Perhaps a better approach should include effective consumer education from third-party sources in whom consumers might have greater confidence. After all, if smart metering only produces more thoughtful energy usage, it will be a success.
Calls for the retention of the ‘dumb meter’ are reminiscent of the video wars. For those who are too young to remember the competition between Beta and VHS technologies, suffice it to say that most engineers felt the inferior technology eventually triumphed. However, the public never wavered in its preference for the VHS units, which dominated the market until DVD technology replaced them. Given the superior technology of the new meters, however, one would hope science will triumph this time. Without that strong educational component, however, it could be a toss up.
It is unfortunate there was a wild rush to install the smart meters before adequate preparation had been made. The $3.4 billion targeted to improve our energy grid put utilities under enormous pressure to spend the smart meter portion of the funds quickly. After a year of installations, however, not everything has gone smoothly. Other than the usual loud complaints, frustration on the part of some customers has accelerated to the point where they are joining class action suits. Other groups are encouraging utility customers to refuse access to their utilities for installation, although utilities have the legal right to enter to operate and otherwise service the equipment.
Obviously this is a failed public relations campaign at best, but what has gone so wrong that a new, helpful technology is being so badly maligned? Certainly there are problems with some individual meter units, but testing shows they operate at least as accurately as the older meters did.
While unhappy customers site wildly fluctuating utility bills as proof, utilities counter with weather statistics and other rationals, including an assertion that many of the old units were malfunctioning and under-reported usage. The truth may be somewhere between these positions, as certainly costs, weather and usage can fluctuate and equipment can be unreliable.
In addition, the way the meters were described as ‘intelligent’ machines may have inflated both consumer and utility company expectations. There is also the issue that most of us trusted our ‘dumb’ meters and tend to resist change.
By contrast, the smart meter creates a two way information transmission with minute-to-minute precision. This allows the utility to identify when the energy is being used and charge different fees accordingly. As electricity in non-peak hours -generally 9 pm to 4 am – is not in great demand, utilities contend the energy is less expensive to distribute. To meet demand during peak hours utilities often receive energy from sources that are more expensive, hence those costs are higher. For those unused to the distinction, billing by regulated utilities generally allows higher fees for services when their operation costs are higher. Most public utilities charge commercial customers this way, but many do not charge residential customers in this manner.
According to IBM Corporation, a majority of our older population dislikes the technology upgrades while a majority of younger people are willing to give it a shot. This graphic from an IBM smart grid webpage groups the preferences of those in their study. It measured their preferences and willingness to pay for the technology, a greater measure of acceptance.
Other than disputes over monthly bills, warnings have been circulating that smart meters emit radioactivity in amounts that pose a danger to consumers. Like many high tech products, smart meters do emit radioactivity which has been measured at a level of .01% within 6 inches of the meter. It sounds menacing, but comparing this rate of emission with the common products on this chart by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) paints a very different picture:
| Electrical |
EMF in milligauss at distance |
| Equipment/Appliance |
15cm/6″ |
30cm/1′ |
60cm/2′ |
1.2m/4′ |
| Air conditioner |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Baby monitor |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Battery charger |
30 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Blender |
70 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
| Can opener |
600 |
150 |
20 |
2 |
| Cellphone (VLF only) Contact:20mG |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Clock (analogue) |
15 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Clock (digital) |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Clothes dryer |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Coffee maker |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Computer monitor (CRT) |
14 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
| Computer monitor (LCD flat) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Computer (desktop) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Computer (laptop) Contact:20mG |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Cooking range / Hob |
30 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
| Crock pot |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Dishwasher |
20 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
| Electric Blanket At 2.5cm/1″: 20mG |
|
|
|
|
| Fan (desktop) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Fax machine |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Flourescent Light |
40 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| Food mixer |
100 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
| Food processor |
30 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| Garbage disposal unit |
80 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
| Hair dryer |
300 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Heater (fan) |
100 |
20 |
4 |
0 |
| Hi Fi / CD player / Tuner etc |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Iron |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Microwave Oven (VLF only) |
200 |
40 |
10 |
2 |
| Oven |
9 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Power drill |
150 |
30 |
4 |
0 |
| Power saw |
200 |
40 |
5 |
0 |
| Power supply (UPS) |
90 |
25 |
3 |
1 |
| Printer (desktop) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Printer/copier (large/office) |
90 |
20 |
7 |
1 |
| Refrigerator |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Shaver |
100 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
| Toaster |
10 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| TV (with CRT-type screen) |
30 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
| Vacuum cleaner |
300 |
60 |
10 |
1 |
| Washing machine |
20 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
As noted above, proximity to a radiation emitting device is a major factor in the risk it might pose. Based on this, a smart meter placed on the exterior of a home presents little, if any, measurable risk. In fact, looking at the emissions chart above, it would seem that we should be concerned about our can openers.
The Utilities Telecom Council published this chart in a pdf titled, No Smart Meter Health Threat which provides several more comparisons:
Courtesy of UTC and Richard Tell Associates, Inc.
Certainly we could all agree that there are probably a good number of malfunctioning units given the haste with which they were manufactured and installed, but for many people the installation was probably the very first time they paid any attention to the details on their utility bill. A more graceful transition can be accomplished with a little PR. When my county began its attempts at creating energy-awareness, we were ‘rewarded’ the first year with a 5% rebate if we lowered our energy usage compared to the year before.
To complicate matters further, with the volatility in energy markets, a consumer may actually use less energy and still receive a higher bill. If smart meters are installed, comparisons with previous years should be based on kilowatts rather than monthly billing amounts.
Most of us are pretty oblivious to the energy we use - except in a dollar format – or how our individual behaviors can be improved. Here are a few electric appliances with the cost per year in kilowatts (kW) and estimated expense.
As smart meters saturate the marketplace problems should naturally diminish. In the interim, however, it is going to take some serious educational momentum to convince the public that these devices are to their benefit. Hopefully the utilities will spend less time defending their positions and more time problem-solving. Finally, property managers overseeing a smart meter installation should ensure there is adequate resident education before the utility starts the installation.
Other Articles of Interest:
Smart Meters, Smart Criminals and Smarter Managers
Net Zero Begins with You
The Kill a Watt: Find Out What Your Phanton Load Is Costing You
