Smart meters are rolling out in communities through British Columbia like a tide.
They are already being installed in Richmond and Prince George and will be installed in most homes by 2012.
In the 2010 Clean Energy Act, the provincial government legislated smart meters were to be installed in all B.C. homes and businesses by next year. These automated meters are designed to send real-time information about how much electricity households and businesses are using at what times back to BC Hydro. As a result, nearly 400 meter readers across the province will be put out of work.
Initially, BC Hydro promoted homeowners’ ability to review their electricity consumption, arguing it would encourage energy conservation. It’s assuming most people will go around turning off lights and appliances if they can see how much electricity they are using.
But many studies contradict this theory. After a few adjustments to personal habits, most people go about using electricity when they need it.
Turning away from the idea of conservation, the provincial government then suggested the real reason for smart meters was to stop electricity thefts by grow-ops. But BC Hydro’s numbers on how much they’re losing from grow-ops are all over the place.
Last week in Richmond, a family had their power cut off for three days after a smart meter installer reported they might have a grow-op. It turns out they didn’t.
A clue to another potential reason for installation can be found in most other jurisdictions that have installed the meters: the ability to establish time-of-use billing.
The argument is that if using electricity during peak times, like the dinner hour, will cost more, people will use it less and try to shift their energy use to lower-demand times. But after a certain amount of time, people use energy much as they ever have.
This makes sense – most of us don’t have the ability to change the times we need to cook dinner or heat our houses. When the kids are hungry, they need to eat, and when it gets cold, it gets cold.
Despite the fact BC Hydro already test piloted a time-of-use program called the Advanced Metering Initiative, Energy Minister Rich Coleman has been denying for some time now that smart meters have anything to do with charging British Columbians based on time of energy use.
But buried in the Ministerial Rate Review of BC Hydro, ordered by Mr. Coleman, the panel confirms the public utility is moving towards time-of-use billing in conjunction with the Smart Meter Initiative roll-out.
Radio talk show host and columnist Michael Smyth asked Coleman on the radio on Aug. 12 about plans to go to time-of-use metering once smart meters are installed. Coleman replied the government has no current plans to go to time-of-use billing, but refused to rule out the possibility of implementing time-of-use in the future.
Where have we heard this from the provincial government before?
Ah, yes, with the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST0, when just before the 2009 election the B.C. Liberals said they had no current plans to introduce it.
How did that turn out?
Gwenne Farrell is the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union Local 378 vice-president, Utilities.
