Smart Meters: The First Step for Smart Grid
While electricity is something we don’t think about as we turn on a light switch, it certainly has become a hot topic. Discussions range from how to save it to how to use it. Is it renewable, deliverable, reliable and available? In national news "Smart grid" and “smart meters” are proclaimed as the wave of the future but what does that mean to our customers locally?
In a nutshell… we are applying advanced technologies to help increase efficiencies and to improve our level of customer service. To date, Benton PUD has installed over 20,000 new “smart” meters throughout our service area. While the new meters are a step towards smart grid technology, that’s not the driving reason for installation. The new meters alone have many benefits.
The meters transmit usage information by a radio frequency network to a master station located at the main Benton PUD office building using antennas installed on towers located at Jump Off Joe Butte, Rattlesnake Mountain and Prosser Butte. The meters can provide electricity usage and power-quality data remotely. In most cases, an electric service can be connected or disconnected with a click on a computer.
The new meters are read remotely, resulting in fewer vehicles on the road, less fuel consumption and lower vehicle emissions. This adds up to overall savings for Benton PUD and is a benefit to our environment.
There are other advantages, too. Once the system is fully deployed, the meters will immediately signal an outage. By working with Benton PUD’s mapping and outage management systems we will be able to pinpoint the location of the problem, resulting in a quicker response. When a customer has questions about theirr power usage, a customer service representative can review the hourly and daily consumption. And in the future, customers will be able to access information about power use through a website to monitor and manage their energy usage resulting in savings on their power bill.
The new digital meters are very accurate so a few customers may see a slight increase in usage. Some of the older electro-mechanical meters may have slowed down significantly with age, but Benton PUD's test and change-out program through the years has limited potential problems.
Overall the smart meters will reduce meter reading costs and outage restoration times, allow for remote connections/disconnections and improve overall customer service.
What is Smart Grid?
Installing smart meters is one of the first steps Benton PUD is taking to prepare for a smart grid future. The project positions Benton PUD well financially and technically for the evolving requirements of the smart grid and the next generation of equipment and market conditions expected to emerge in the coming years.
Through new technology, smart grid is the modernization of the electric system that is necessary for real time management of power. Rather than just delivering power to the end user, it uses the two-way flow of electricity and information to create an automated, widely distributed energy delivery network. Visions for the smart grid include systems that will actually let you monitor and control electricity usage throughout your home. In turn, a smarter grid will enable utilities to monitor and deliver power more efficiently.
It is imperative that improvements are made to meet the future challenges and growing needs of our customers. No doubt technology is changing the world and new technology is becoming available for our power system providing utilities information and efficiencies not even thought of a few years ago.
Improved energy efficiency will help counter the rapidly growing rate of energy consumption. While Benton PUD has had a conservation program for over 20 years, the program has been doubled for 2010 to meet the new mandated conservation goals. But it’s going to take more than rebates on energy efficient appliances to ensure we have enough power for our growing community and growing needs for electricityAnd with the addition of new renewables, such as wind, getting added into the power mix, a more sophisticated system is needed. Two-way communication coupled with technology is the key to advancing the grid system to meet power needs in the future.
Benton PUD is making changes methodically and prudently. The meters are a first step and are getting installed over a three year period. Meanwhile, we teamed together with 12 utilities, Battelle and BPA on a Smart Grid Demonstration project. With a $178 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the project will provide a proving ground for the development of technologies and systems that will provide more energy-efficient power distribution nationwide.
Benton PUD’s role includes a pilot project on part of our system. Intelligent devices will be installed in a substation and on four feeder power lines to measure power in finite detail. This data will be used with other similar projects to analyze power use and distribution which will enable Benton PUD to deliver power more efficiently to customers as well as let customers have more control on their power usage. It’s an opportunity to test the technology before installing throughout the system.
“Smart Grid can be described in many ways,” said Benton PUD’s director of engineering, Rick Dunn. “While complicated and very technical, smart grid is the convergence of communication infrastructure and electrical infrastructure. More simply put, it makes the power system ready for the future needs of both the utility and our customers.”