June 30, 2019 • EPE Related News
Get ready for 'smart' electrical meters
Get ready for 'smart' electrical meters
El Paso Electric is one step closer to deploying “smart” meters to customers across the region, a big undertaking that would allow residents to track their electrical data in real-time and help the utility better manage energy use.
Gov. Greg Abbott last month signed legislation clarifying that communities like El Paso that do not belong to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, have the ability to deploy the meters and recover some of the fees to do so.
Elaina Ball, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for El Paso Electric, said the company is at the very beginning stages of exploring whether digital meters would be a good solution for the region.
There’s no ballpark figure for how much implementing smart meters might cost, but it won’t be a small undertaking. As of June 2019, El Paso Electric has 445,800 meters in the region. If smart meters are introduced, nearly each one of those would have to be switched out.
“It’s pretty clear that all big cities in the state of Texas have already gone forward with this technology, and that we’re the last largest urban city that hasn’t,” said Rep. Lina Ortega, who co-authored the legislation alongside other El Paso delegation members.
Supporters of the legislation say smart meters would allow customers to read their electricity data in real-time, better track their energy consumption and make smarter choices about electricity.
Ball gave the example of power outages that do not affect a wide population. She said smart meters could make it easier to pinpoint which customers are without power and to be able to address the situation more efficiently.
“We rely on our customers to notify us. It sounds simple, but it’s a big deal,” Ball said. “If I’m at work and my lights are out for six hours and the food is all warm, I’m upset.”
Ball said smart meters could also help the utility better manage peak usage and work with customers on energy-saving initiatives.
“Other things we’d like to do is offer options and programs to customers to help them conserve during peak demand,” Ball said. “It’s important not only for the bottom line but it helps us not produce energy during those peak times.”
Opponents say it allows El Paso Electric to increase rates by adding a surcharge to help cover the cost of the meters. Some opponents have also cited privacy concerns, saying more personal data can be gleaned from a smart meter and could be susceptible to hacking and misuse.
The proposed smart meters would allow two-way communication between the devices and El Paso Electric. The meters currently in place are digital, but only communicate one way, officials said.
Ball said El Paso is one of the last cities in Texas to deploy digital meters, but added that being a late adopter has its perks, including glitches that have been smoothed out.
“Our customer’s privacy and confidentiality of customer’s data is extremely important to us, even today without this technology,” Ball said. “We take steps to make sure the system and information is protected.”
Other Texas cities, like Austin and San Antonio, already have smart meters in place. Municipally-owned Austin Energy installed its meters in 2008.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees utilities like El Paso Electric, prohibits companies from selling, sharing or disclosing certain information gathered by the smart meters.
If having a “smart” device that collects, transmits and receives data doesn’t sound palpable, customers would have the option to opt out, but it might not be free to do so.
Ball, who worked with Austin Energy on their smart meter conversion efforts, said few people chose to opt out of the program and keep the old meters.
Austin Energy customers who wish to keep the old meters must pay a $75 setup fee and a $10 monthly charge. Customers with digital meters don’t have to pay those fees.
Ball emphasized El Paso Electric is still in the early stages of exploring digital meters and did not have estimates for how much converting to digital meters would cost.
The proposal would need to be approved by regulators and by the city of El Paso.
The smart meters are just one part of a broader initiative called Smart El Paso, which would involve collecting data on everything from street usage to homelessness so city officials could make better decisions. The initiative is modeled in several other U.S. cities, including places like Denver, Austin and San Antonio.
City officials declined to answer specifics on the project, including questions on cost and timelines, saying they are at the beginning of the process.
Nicole Ferrini, chief resilience officer for the city, said the city is exploring what a Smart City would look like in El Paso. She said the city is working with the Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council to figure out how smart technology could push forward renewable energy in the region.
“We want to take the technology that’s been successful in communities across the country, leverage those best practices and create a more dynamic version in El Paso to serve this region,” Ferrini said.
The city would partner with entities like school districts, the county and UMC for data collection, Ferrini said.
“We have a shared mission and vision with our partner public agencies that helps us all drive in the same direction and make better decisions,” Ferrini said.
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