Metering.com - The Metering International information and news site

CRC Energy Efficiency scheme in the UK places demand on AMR installers

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:15:29 +0100

March 10, 2010 - Power Efficiency, a leading energy procurement and carbon strategy consultancy, has today warned that some of the UK’s 5,000 largest energy users required to take part in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, may not get the measures to improve their league table performance in place before the close of the first year’s reporting on 31st March 2011.

Oncor tests old mechanical and new smart meters

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:09:03 +0100

March 10, 2010 - In an effort to prove the reliability of smart meters, three dozen homes have been fitted with old meters and smart meters side by side in North and Central Texas. Both meters will record usage for the home, allowing Oncor to see whether the smart meter runs faster than the old meter. The power line company will begin reporting the results in about a week and continue weekly reporting for about a month.

68% of Americans have never heard of the Smart Grid – Harris poll

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:57:09 +0100

March 10, 2010 - Over nine hundred utility executives, government regulators, and engineers met at the Metering America conference this week to discuss the future of energy use and the smart grid.

However, a Harris Poll has highlighted the fact that although U.S. utilities have committed billions of dollars to upgrade the electric grid by installing new “smart meters” in homes and businesses. about two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) have never heard the term “smart grid” and 63 percent don’t know what a smart meter is.

Education of customers is key to acceptance of smart meters

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:39:29 +0100

March 10, 2010 - Commissioner Nancy Ryan of the California Public Utilities Commission. Ryan told the “Metering America” conference that utility rates based on time-of-day pricing related to the cost of producing electricity must be coupled with extensive customer communications and education campaigns, or the effort to align consumers and true market costs will be wasted. Ryan says it’s “imperative that the installation of smart grids and smart meters be seen as something done for customers and not something done to customers.”

Metering International Excellence Awards announced

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:40:59 +0100

San Diego, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 9, 2010 - The winners of the 2010 Metering International Excellence Awards for North America were announced during the opening session of Metering, Billing/MDM America 2010 in San Diego, CA, yesterday.

In the “Business Case” category the winner was Dominica Electric Services (Domlec) for its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project. The project has brought multiple business benefits, in areas including outage management, system optimization, technical loss reduction, prepaid metering, service calls, damage claim reduction and vegetation management. Future benefits include Domlec’s long range plan is to implement grid automation as budget allows.

In the “Customer Service” category the winner was Toronto Hydro for its “Get smart Toronto” initiative – a multi-year, integrated communication strategy that has used a phased approach for AMI smart meter and TOU rollout. In order to educate customers in preparation for the new grid and TOU rates, the more than 3-year campaign has included direct mail, automated telephone blasts, email and print publications, media relations and events from the government co-hosted lobby.

In the “Innovation” category the winner was Pulaski Electric Systems for its smart grid project leveraging a new fiber-to-the-home network. The project was aimed initially at providing a local broadband network but subsequently has cleared the path for broader utility modernization.

Reports show need for consumer education on smart grid, meters and appliances

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:35:43 +0100

March 9, 2010 - A new report by Zpryme indicates smart grid technology will be a boon for the smart appliance market. From 2011 to 2015, the global household smart appliance market is projected grow from $3.06 billion to $15.12 billion. The United States will initially dominate the smart appliance market but by 2015 its share will decrease to 36 percent, representing approximately $5.46 billion. China will account for an estimated 18.2 percent, valued at $2.76 billion.

National broadband plan for 'smart' power grids

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:14:51 +0100

March 9, 2010 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s plan to wire the entire United States with high-speed Internet access will be key to creating a nationwide "smart" power grid for reducing wasted electricity, according to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski .

In his speech, Chairman Genachowski asked regulators to imagine a connected America where millions of people are on a smart power grid, where electricity is only doled out as needed and drawn from the most efficient sources. Such a plan could potentially cut greenhouse gases from power plants by as much as 12 percent – the equivalent of taking 55 million cars off the road.

ADD Semiconductor and Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe introduce two new system-on-chip solutions for FSK-based PLC

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:52 +0100

March 9, 2010 - The MB87S2090 and the MB87S2090-F have been developed for communication over power line solutions for automatic meter management.

Both devices are pin-to-pin compatible with ADD Semiconductor's designs and are IEC compatible.

A complete set of peripherals has been developed achieving a high level of versatility and providing a compact, low-cost solution for automated meter reading/automated meter management (AMR/AMM) applications using narrowband PLC, according to the company.

Metering, Billing/MDM America 2010 gets under way today

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:36:38 +0100

San Diego, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2010 - The 11th Metering, Billing/MDM America gets under way today at the San Diego Marriott in San Diego, CA.

A lot has happened in the last year since Metering America 2009. At that time the stimulus package had just been announced, creating considerable excitement over the prospect of this windfall funding into the industry. Now all those funds have been allocated and utilities are having to face up to the realities of being able to utilize them, while those that weren’t awarded funding are having to relook at their plans.

Glendale signs contract for federal smart grid grant

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:31:15 +0100

Glendale, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2010 - Glendale Water & Power (GWP) has signed the contract for its $20 million federal Smart Grid Investment Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), becoming the first city in the nation to receive smart grid funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Jersey Water to install island-wide metering

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:05:47 +0100

St Helier, Jersey --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2010 - As part of a package of measures to meet future demands on its water resources, Jersey Water is to install island-wide metering over the next five years.

Since 2009 the company has had a policy of installing a meter on every property where there has been a change of occupancy, or where a customer specifically requests one. At the present time 35 percent of all connections are metered. While this policy is set to continue, starting in late Spring Jersey Water also will start metering the approximately 17,500 unmetered connections.

Massive Chinese budget for Smart Grid and 170 million smart meters

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:32:14 +0100

March 5, 2010 - China plans to spend much more than the U.S. or Europe on building out its grid to meet its massive population’s growing energy needs. Projections for China’s budget on smart grid spending is over $7 billion, compared to the US Department of Energy’s projection of $4.5billion.

On Thursday, IBM announced details of various pilot projects underway with China’s massive government-owned utility, State Grid Corporation of China and other partners. Those projects range from managing the flow of power from nuclear plants and massive wind farms to transmission and distribution grids to managing energy efficiency down at the consumer level, including electric vehicles.

Success of smart energy depends on customer acceptance, study finds

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:08:49 +0100

March 5, 2010 - An analysis of the smart energy market in Texas, sponsored by many leading energy and technology companies in the US, and conducted by Kema, the study examined residential customer awareness, acceptance and value of smart grid enabled electricity offers, home energy technologies and rate plans (“smart energy”).

Oncor develops smart meter verification plan

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:46:05 +0100

Dallas, TX, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 4, 2010 - Amid calls for independent testing of Oncor’s smart meters and a moratorium on further smart meter installations following complaints of increased bills and questions on the accuracy of the meters, the company’s chairman and CEO Bob Shapard has announced that a Smart Meter Verification Plan has been developed.

Elektro Ljubljana to create smart grid environment in the central Slovenian region

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:31:38 +0100

Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zug, Switzerland --- (METERING.COM) --- March 4, 2010 - Elektro Ljubljana has selected Landis+Gyr’s smart metering infrastructure as it starts to create a smart grid environment in the central Slovenian region.

The project will cover 50,000 metering points and is based on a strong business case rather than as a response to regulatory requirements.