As our first decade in the 21st century draws to an end, integration and innovation within society and daily life continues to hum along and, in many cases, accelerate. No where have their convergence become more apparent than in the field of energy. More specifically; where we get it, how we use it, and how we handle it.
As the U.S. and other countries begin to adopt more energy efficient strategies and measures, archaic electrical infrastructure, a.k.a. the grid, begins to become a bigger and bigger roadblock on the road toward sustainability. As the technology that plugs into the grid improves, the grid itself remains the same (or as some have termed “dumb”); making any innovation as good and as ‘innovative’ as its powersource will allow it. This is specifically true in the case of intermittent energy sources such as solar, wind, and even plug-in vehicles (plans to use them as mini batteries for the grid are in the works).
Quick Refresher On The Current Limits To Grid Integrated Renewable Energy
Unlike coal-fired, nuclear or even hydroelectric power plants where energy can be produced whenever and at any needed amount, power sources like wind and solar are dependent on variable and fairly unpredictable conditions i.e. weather. Because of these varying conditions, these energy sources output varies as well. For example, a wind turbine could be causally spinning in a 11 mph wind, as its location’s prevailing wind speeds would dictate, producing a relatively average amount of electricity. The nearby grid to which this wind turbine is connected is able to account for that amount of power production and adjusts its sub stations and other power sources accordingly in order to continually supply the electricity currently demanded. But what happens if a front unexpectedly blows in and that tranquil 11 mph breeze has turned into a forceful 25 mph steady wind. The turbine spins faster and it produces more electricity. This poses a problem for the grid and its archaic operating and control systems. Why? Because there are no real automatic controls in place to adequately handle scenarios such as the one above. Currently, the solution for a sudden increase in energy supply from a source like a wind turbine is to simply waste the power by ‘cutting off the feed’. While the alternative solution, blowing out the grid, certainly isn’t more favorable, the fact that we in the 21st century are unable to take advantage of all of that extra energy, when energy is becoming more and more scarce/expensive, is a little ridiculous and quite frankly unacceptable.. when control systems are trying to allocate for these variable amounts of electrical production, or lack thereof.
A ‘Smarter’ Grid
The path to a ’smarter grid’ begins with smarter systems and software in place that will adequately handle and control all sources of energy; be it constant and predictable sources, like coal-fired and nuclear plants, or intermittent and varying sources, like wind and solar. One of the first and most crucial pieces of equipment that will enable our ‘dumb grid’ to become ’smarter’ will be the meters that gauge and control our electricity. These meters will of course; ‘be smart’.
Smart Meters
While there are many different types of smart meters being installed these days, they all have the same underlying multi-functional purpose; namely, to measure electrical demand and supply in real time in an integrated system that will, among other things, allow for not only more efficient grid operation, but more accurate billing to customers that is based on the time electricity is consumed as well as the amount.
Many smart meters also give the customer the ability to view their energy consumption and rate in real time via software integration in the meters that can be accessed from a computer or in-home display. The idea of this of course is that people’s consumption habits change when they are able to see the effects of their actions in real time. Several behavioral studies conducted regarding energy usage have confirmed this correlation.
So what if you’re just not conscious of your energy usage, no matter how much information is presented to you? Well, there are already plans to implement a system through smart meters that will allow the shutting down and cycling of non-essential appliances that are not in use during peak electricity demand. The idea is to save the customer money on electricity they don’t readily need and the power companies having to bring less power plants online to supply demand from appliances that are not being used. This technology is a few years away and will be largely dependent on the appliances themselves seeing as they will need to be designed and manufactured to allow for such control.
Billing: What Everyone Really Cares About
When it comes to the billing with a smart meter, it’s intended to works like this. Say it’s a 100 degrees outside and you decide to crank down your A/C to 68, run a load of laundry, and leave your plasma TV on all day. The electricity being produced during that time to meet your demands is technically more expensive than the electricity produced later that night simply due to the laws of supply and demand. During the the hot day, electricity is more scarce and more expensive to produce due to the demand on the grid for cooling needs and other energy-intensive daytime operations. Therefore, when more electricity is required to run the devices above, it costs more.
Up until recently, the power companies could only charge one flat per/kwh rate all the time that was usually based, in part, on an average of their highest and lowest production costs throughout the previous year. With smart meters though, power companies are able to charge customers more accurately for the electricity they’re consuming based on the demand at the time at which they’re consuming it. What this means, in theory, is that customers who are more conscious of their energy usage (both when they use it and how much) will pay less than those who are not, and instead of an average rate being applied to everyone, each customer will receive his or her own unique rate.
Smart Dumb Meters?
Sounds good right? Get charged a rate that not only bills you more accurately for what you’re actually consuming, rewards better energy consumption practices. The problem is that some customers are crying foul when it comes to the real-world implementation of smart meter billing and it’s supposed cost savings.
In California, where one of the biggest power companies, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), has already installed 4 million smart meters (and plans to install 6 million more by 2013), customers are claiming that the new smart meters are logging many more kilowatt hours on their accounts than they are actually using. According to the New York Times, one customer in Fresno, CA claimed a new smart meter logged the consumption of his two-bedroom townhouse at 791 kilowatt-hours in July, up from 236 the previous year. The strangest part is, he had recently insulated his attic and installed new windows, so one would assume that his energy bills would go down; not up. Customers also claim that it’s unfair for them to pay for the installation of these meters in the form of higher rates when the supposed cost savings from meters, that will be able to shut down and cycle appliances not in use during peak hours, are years away.
The Explanation
According to PG&E, there are more than a few contributing factors that can account for some customers’ bill increase and the seemingly ‘malfunctioning’ smart meters. One of the most obvious is the fact that California had record high temperatures this summer; meaning personal usage, as well as overall grid demand, was much higher than the previous year. Another reason is California’s unusual and complicated pricing system. Electricity in the state is priced based on a tier-system that is similar to income tax brackets.The tiered-system allows consumers to get the first few hundred kilowatt-hours at a low rate as long as it falls within the first tier, but once the next ‘tier’ is reached, a higher rate is applied. Therefore, a small increase in use can result in a big increase in the bill.
PG&E, as well as other power companies facing opposition to the new meters, go further to explain how many cost savings associated with the installation of the new smart meters, completely unrelated to customer usage, will soon be passed on to the consumer. The fact that electrical service and usage can now be activated, disconnected, and/or read remotely means power companies no longer have to pay for people, equipment, vehicles and fuel to do so. This substantial savings will subsequently (according to the power companies) be passed down to you the consumer.
Adapt Or Die…Or Maybe Just Pay More
One could also view the smart meters and their more accurate accounting of electrical consumption as a form of ‘tough love’ from the power companies to the oblivious, and often times wasteful, electrical consumer. Because of the way the new meter works, consumers’ actions now carry more directly attributable and somewhat traceable consequences. Like children, most consumers don’t like to think about having to do things differently from what they’re accustom. So when you introduce financial ‘consequences’ for the actions that result from that type of mindset, people get pissy and throw a fit instead of simply making minor adjustments to their consumption habits.
The Future
While higher bills resulting from inaccurate readings of consumption are certainly something that should be looked into further, the financial ‘pains’ these new smart meters are inflicting on customers can largely be avoided by simply doing things a little differently around the house. If you don’t want to pay more for electricity, do the things that are necessary to take advantage of the new system rather than fighting it. With many other states now implementing smart meters (just got a letter from GA Power saying mine is coming soon), customers are going to have to adapt; whether they like it or not.
Many of them already have adapted and actually like the system quite a lot. Among the 24,000 California residents who signed up to be a part of a smart meter test program in California last summer, 70 percent said that they saved money and 97 percent said that they would like to continue in the program. Like getting an opinion on anything in life, it all depends on who you ask.
The Good: Smart meters will enable the grid to more efficiently handle intermittent power sources such as renewables and even plug in vehicles. Accurate metering will make customers’ bills more directly reflect their usage and habits. Real time usage and rate information will help customers implement ‘best practice’ consumption habits. Energy-conscious consumers will financially benefit. Reduction in vehicle usage normally needed to connect, disconnect and read electrical usage will reduce CO2 emissions.
The Bad: Meters are not standardized and each company can use it’s own brand of meter and associated features/services. Learning curve for the population, as a whole, is most likely going to be steep and arduous for the more hard-headed. Initial installation and system implementation costs are of course passed down to customers
The Bottom-Line: Change is never easy; especially when some people’s wallets are affected. But in order for responsible and more efficient energy usage and production to even be a possibility for the future, smart meters are going to have to be a way of life.
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