With a shift toward energy conservation, many companies and organizations are exploring strategies that enable better use of power. BC Hydro is following suit by implementing Smart Meter technology throughout the province.
The process, set to start this summer, will see BC Hydro upgrade all power meters to Smart Meters.
At the May 5 Sunshine Coast Regional District infrastructure committee meeting, SCRD community energy manager Johan Stroman discussed the technology, outlining its opportunities and benefits. Although the meters will be implemented province-wide by December 2012, Stroman recommended the Sunshine Coast become an early adopter of the program.
Stroman said the program will not only upgrade meters, but also deploy detection theft measures, establish a meter telecommunication network, offer in-home displays and establish an advanced telecommunications infrastructure.
Current meters, said Stroman, capture only electricity consumption and require regular visits from meter readers to relay energy use back to BC Hydro.
"They have no communication, outage or tamper detection. A Smart Meter, alternatively, captures power quality, voltage and time-stamped data as well as integrating communication between BC Hydro and a home or business," he said. "They also provide electricity consumption feedback in near real-time format. If you think of the current system as a single-point source, this program will shift to the distributed generational model to accommodate those kinds of changes, on all levels. The program has been suggested as a tool for that change."
Committee members, although familiar with the program, had plenty of questions.
Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk voiced concerns over health implications, while Sechelt Coun. Keith Thirkell asked if this metering installation would allow BC Hydro to see every power function used in the home.
Gary Murphy, Smart Meter chief project officer for BC Hydro, addressed the issue of privacy concerns in a follow-up interview with Coast Reporter.
"All the data we send back to BC Hydro from the Smart Meter is encrypted, much like on-line banking. It is virtually impossible for the typical hacker to hack in the system and get that data," Murphy said. "In the privacy world, you never say never, but the amount of effort, the cost and the time it would take for an individual, for whatever reason, to find out how much energy you were using is certainly not worth the effort."
Committee members felt too many questions and concerns were being posed, and further information, in addition to Stroman's report, was needed, so the committee voted against the recommendation of becoming an early adopter of the Smart Meter technology.
