Smart meters are currently being installed by BC Hydro in Chase, at residential and small business locations. As it turns out, smart meters have been active in Chase for about a year, according to Mayor Ron Anderson.
“The village installed smart meters to monitor usage on the Chase water system, they can be read from the road,” said Anderson.
He said there hasn’t been a lot of negative feedback – a handful regarding health concerns, misinformation in Anderson’s opinion.
“People have difficulty with change, it’s progressive to have the smart meters. We’ll see benefits in the long run.”
It is true that technology used in microwave ovens was at first a concern, but with usage on a broad scale, our longevity in life is a testament to the effects of radiation from these very useful – can’t imagine how we could live without them – appliances. On the other hand, compact fluorescent light bulbs are being phased out and BC Hydro has been promoting LED technology.
BC Hydro began installing smart meters in July 2011, with projected completion by December 2012.
The program costs $660 million for the meters and $270 million for the grid, for a total price tag of just under $1 billion. An added expense is a box in your home to give you access to your data, estimated at about $200, though BC Hydro says it will provide some rebates.
BC Hydro’s “business case” projects that after considering implementation costs, smart meters will provide a net benefit of $3 billion over a two-decade period through to 2033, with 80 per cent of the benefits internal to the utility, the remainder dependent on uptake of additional in-home devices. The benefits are based on: improvements in safety and reliability, such as real-time information about power outages; enhanced customer service; reduction in electricity theft; and improved operational efficiencies.
About 17 per cent of the benefit of smart meters to BC Hydro arises from eliminating jobs for meter readers due to automation – about 300 to 400 positions.
The largest source of benefit to BC Hydro (an estimated 56 per cent) is reducing the theft of electricity for marijuana grow-ops and other illegal activity. BC Hydro states theft costs the utility $100 million per year, although it is not obvious that smart meters would convert every kWh of stolen electricity to revenue. Smart meters may make it easier for criminals to steal electricity by hacking into the smart metering system.
“BC Hydro will not be implementing time-of-use rates because we don’t need them,” the Frequently Asked Questions pages state about the smart meter program. “Time-of-use rates are used in jurisdictions with peak demand that exceeds the utility’s ability to supply electricity to its customers. They have to buy expensive electricity in order to meet that peak demand. This is very important in jurisdictions that rely on coal or fossil fuels to generate electricity.
“In British Columbia, we are fortunate to have a flexible electricity system that is 94 per cent hydro generation, where water flow can be adjusted to match supply and demand as needed. We are also addressing future capacity constraints through expansions to existing infrastructure, such as Mica 5 and 6 and our integrated resources plan.”
Will the benefits of smart meters outweigh the costs? Only the future can tell.
Flowers welcome
Whether we have a special someone in our lives aside from the one we see in the mirror, that person deserves to be treated well. Valentine’s Day is one more opportunity to show appreciation with the colour and freshness of flowers.
