Posts Tagged ‘smart grid’
Minnesota co-ops announce $5 million ‘smart grid’ project
>> Minneapolis Star Tribune
Three Minnesota electric cooperatives said Tuesday that they hope to flatten some of ups and downs of power demand with “smart grid” technology.
Survey suggests need for education on smart grid
>> AOL Energy
A new survey of 900 electricity consumers in the US Midwest found that more than half had not heard of smart-grid technology, and even among those who had, 80 percent did not feel confident about their knowledge.
ComEd plans to deploy 4 million smart meters in northern Illinois
>> Chicago Sun-Times
ComEd officials have said previously that customers could save $2.6 billion collectively in the next 20 years by using the digital technology to turn off electricity at peak times and help make the energy grid operate more efficiently.
Sarah Laskow: Smart meter helps dad bust up teen’s house party
>> Grist
Over New Year’s, Rowe was traveling in the Melbourne area, an eight-and-a-half-hour drive from home. His 16-year-old daughter was staying with friends. The vacant house piqued Rowe’s energy geek curiosity: How would it perform with no one in it?
Ameren files modernization plan required by Illinois ‘smart grid’ law
>> St. Louis Post Dispatch
Ameren Illinois has submitted its 10-year, $625 million energy infrastructure improvement and modernization to the Illinois Commerce Commission, the utility announced Monday.
Playing the health card
What does this bowl of carrots have in common with a smart meter? Keep reading.
Today’s story on smart meter opposition takes a closer look at health claims made by critics of the technology.
Smart meter opponents say radio waves emitting from the devices can be harmful to human health. But existing research has found no evidence to support these claims, and many common household devices, like baby monitors and wireless routers, put out similar doses of microwave energy.
There is equally thin evidence to support claims that power lines are a health hazard, as reporter Dan Haugen found out earlier this month. Opponents cite concerns about magnetic fields from high-voltage lines, which are in reality only a fraction of the strength of the natural magnetic field one is exposed to merely by standing on the earth.
Similarly, numerous reviews of research have failed to find evidence supporting claims that wind turbines are a health hazard. The latest, conducted on behalf of the state of Massachusetts, found only that the noise from turbines could potentially cause sleep disruptions, echoing earlier studies.
So why do these claims persist? Two reasons.
One is that they can’t be fully dismissed – while there’s no solid evidence to date to support these health claims, there’s always the possibility that science simply hasn’t uncovered a connection yet. So while it’s incredibly unlikely that a power line will give you cancer, science can never 100 percent eliminate the possibility. And a few minutes on the internet will turn up dozens of “experts” raising the alarm about just about anything (for instance, baby carrots). For some, that’s all the proof that is needed.
But a more important reason is that these arguments appear to be effective. While we’ve learned to internalize the risk from our cell phones or the microwave oven in the kitchen, new technology (or development that is new to our neighborhood) is more of a mystery. So these claims often get repeated without question in media coverage.
“Linda,” an opponent of a power line project in Montana, put it rather candidly in her comment on Haugen’s post:
Health problems or not, I think many people just have no interest in living under these things. They are loud, ugly, invasive and ultimately reduce quality of life/property for those forced to reside nearby. Not to mention that the benefit of these things is rarely seen by those who have to carry the burden of housing them, yet they see others further down the line having no negative impact but receiving all the “good.” Unfortunately, none of those things seem to hold up very well in court, so people hold on to the health threat potential, as small as it may (or may not) be.
So the fundamental debate here isn’t whether these things are harmful to your health. The opposition is driven more by a sense of fairness – not wanting to bear a disproportionate share of the burden for our shared electricity infrastructure, as well as a desire to control changes to the physical landscape around one’s home.
All of which is completely understandable. But until we all start generating our own electricity, these things have to go in someone’s backyard.
Is there a way to continue developing our electricity infrastructure without disenfranchising affected neighbors? Your thoughts are welcome below-
Photo by Edgar Barrera via Creative Commons
As smart meters roll out, opponents get organized
>> Midwest Energy News
(Photo by Portland General Electric via Creative Commons)
January 24, 2012
By Frank Jossi
The prosperous Chicago suburb of Naperville might seem an unlikely spot for a large protest against “smart meters” that utilities have begun installing across the United States.
Yet in this normally quiet community, foes of the city’s $22 million smart grid program managed to deliver a petition with more than 4,200 names that calls for the city to hold a referendum to halt its program. A nasty battle has ensued since the petition was delivered last year with charges and countercharges over the validity of the names in a typical Chicagoland political fight.
“We have four main objections,” said Lisa Rooney, an organizer with Naperville Smart Meter Awareness. “The cost, the security, health and privacy – all of those fall under the guise of freedom of choice and personal property rights. We want the freedom to choose what type of technology is installed on our homes.”
That message increasingly resonates with smart grid opponents as utilities take advantage of President Obama’s $4.5 billion initiative in 2009 to help develop and upgrade the nation’s electrical infrastructure.
Why smart meters?
Smart meters are seen as linchpin of a smarter grid. They allow utilities to begin instituting time-of-day pricing, offering consumers an opportunity to save money by cutting power use during periods of peak demand.
In some scenarios a consumer could even have a utility manage their electric use in return for a break on bills. Utilities, meanwhile, could improve management of power distribution – including responding to outages more quickly — and potentially avoid making large investments in new generation capacity.
Naperville isn’t the only city facing a backlash over new metering technology. In St. Paul, Minnesota, a program to install wireless water utility meters met with resistance over health concerns that led to an opt-out option for homeowners.
In Michigan, where more than 600,000 meters are being installed by DTE Energy, four communities with a collective population of 311,000 have asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to provide an opt-out to consumers and to investigate various concerns over the smart grid program.
In California, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has installed 8.7 million smart meters but was forced by the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to allow consumers to opt out.
A national website, StopSmartMeters.org, tracks the budding movement and has reported 47 communities have halted their installations.
Industry advocates, however, say the concerns of protesters are largely unfounded, and the size of the protests indicate few people have complaints even after more than 20 million smart meters have been installed.
“I think the protests are small compared to all the people in the United States and the meters in the U.S.,” said James W. Morozzi, president & CEO of The Washington, D.C.-based Gridwise Alliance, which lobbies for smart grid technologies. “It’s a very small percentage that has voiced any issues or complaints.”
Heath questions
In St. Paul, where the city’s water utility is spending $18 million to install 94,000 new digital meters that will largely remove the need for a staff of meter readers.
Similar to smart meters, the water meters emit a short low frequency radio wave every 14 seconds which carries data on the water usage of a home or building. A water utility vehicle passing by once every three months, on average, will take a reading and a bill will be sent based on usage.
St. Paul homeowner Petra Bokken and her allies said the main objection to the program has been over health concerns regarding the nearly constant microwave pulse the meters emit. Some residents with meters have complained of headaches and other illnesses they believe have been caused by microwave pulses, she said.
Bokken and others also cite a World Health Organization press release last May, which suggested cell phone signals could be classified as a “Group B” carcinogen, as evidence the low frequency microwave signals could lead to cancer.
However, the release merely calls for further research, saying the WHO has found little evidence connecting radio waves to cancer. Other products classified as Group B carcinogens include coffee, pickled vegetables, and carageenan, an ingredient commonly found in ice cream.
Morozzi says all smart meters being installed in the U.S. abide by Federal Communications Commission standards for radio waves, as well as within guidelines set by international organizations. A 2011 review [PDF] conducted by the California Council on Science and Technology found existing standards were adequate to protect public health.
PG&E’s website points out that one of its smart meters would have to be on 1,000 years to produce as much exposure to radio waves as average cell phone users get in a month. Many consumer appliances, such as microwave ovens and wi-fi routers, have equal or greater power density per square centimeter than smart meters, according to the FCC.
Opt-out programs
Smart meter opponents, such as this shop owner in California, have posted signs asking for meters not to be installed. Some have gone so far as to bolt or chain their meters to their homes. (Photo by Jason Tester via Creative Commons)
Unlike many other smart grid rollouts, Naperville’s is being conducted by a city-owned utility. The program will install 57,000 meters in homes and businesses in the city, with half that cost paid for by the federal government, and the rest from the utility. Installation starts this year.
Opponents, such as Rooney, say the utility did not properly inform the public about the program, and they question whether it will save consumers money, or simply allow utilities to make more money. Utilities will hold too much information over how homeowners live their lives, she said, and that could be sold to marketing companies.
However, no reports exist of utilities having sold personal consumer information, and Naperville passed a strict ordinance last February prohibiting its utility from selling any customer data.
Nevertheless, many Naperville residents, some of whom have gone so far as to physically bolt their existing electrical meters to their homes, want at least a chance to opt out. The council has suggested an upfront fee of $68.35 and a charge of $24.75 a month to continue to have a non-digital reader.
“That’s punitive, and significantly higher than other opt-out programs around the country,” said Rooney.
In California, PG&E asked for a $270 upfront charge and a $14 monthly charge to pay for meter reader visits, or $135 upfront and $20 a month. The state’s PUC suggested $90 upfront, $15 a month, while low-income and elderly would pay a flat $5 a month. A decision will be made soon.
In St. Paul, where more than 300 homeowners called the city to consider opting out, the water utility offered two options. One allowed for a digital reader installed outside the home instead of in basements, where most of them are located. The other option, a touchpad, costs $48 annually, and would require a water department employee to read it.
Early experience with opt-outs suggests few customers will take advantage of it. Central Maine Power, which has 450,000 customers, charges $12 a month for an analog meter after an initial $40 fee. About 8,000 customers expressed interest in the opt-out but when confronted with fees the figure dropped by 10 percent, according to a November GreenTech Media article.
Lessons learned
Even advocates of smart meters agree their rollout has been less than a stellar.
“Many customers and stakeholders felt they weren’t asked whether they wanted these meters – they were given no information and no choice,” wrote smart grid authority Dr. Peter Fox-Penner in a Harvard Business Review blog post last year. “Combined with misinformation about the intent, cost, and impact of smart meters, this ‘top-down’ has bred something of a backlash that isn’t surprising, even if it is regrettable.”
Another mistake utilities have made is suggesting they will monitor the second-by-second electrical use of homeowners, said Bruce Wallenberg, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Electric Energy.
“You couldn’t ask for a bigger fight than by doing it that way,” he said. “I wouldn’t want a record of every current in my (electric) line transmitted to anyone.”
Jennifer Stahl, another leader in the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group, said the utility’s own studies revealed only 15 percent of customers “planned to participate” in time-of-use pricing and other programs.
“It sounds great, it was a hook for me in the beginning but I’m a stay-at-home mom and I’m not going to do laundry at 10 at night,” she said. “Behavior is what changes energy use — a smart meter isn’t going to change energy use.”
St. Paul journalist Frank Jossi writes about politics, business, energy and the environment. His website is www.jossi.biz.
This work by Midwest Energy News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Illinois smart grid upgrade begins with promise for the future
>> Chicago News Cooperative
Often lost amid disagreements over smart-grid legislation is the question of how the grid should work and whether it will improve how consumers use electricity.
Despite state inquiry, Michigan utility proceeds with smart meters
>> Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Consumers Energy plans to go forward with its deployment of smart meters despite an investigation launched by the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Michigan utility says moratorium won’t change smart meter plan
>> Detroit Free Press
A DTE Energy spokesman said the company has no plans to allow customers to opt out of its smart meter installation program, following a resolution in Sterling Heights last week that seeks to keep the meters out until the utility relents.
