by Peter Seidman, Pacific Sun, Marin County, August 20, 2010
PG&E's not-so-smart approach to wireless power grid a shocking lesson in 'advanced' planning
When Pacific Gas and Electric Company stuck its finger in the smart meter socket it got a shock.
PG&E began installing the advanced meters, which transmit power-consumption information to the utility over a wireless network, last year. It didn't take long before complaints were being transmitted across the new SmartMeter grid—whether or not the complaints had merit. PG&E isn't scoring high on the public relations meter these days, especially in Marin, where the utility spent big bucks trying to stop Marin Clean Energy from rolling out its local-power plan. It also spent about $47 million pushing a proposition to stop other communities from creating local-power agencies. Prop. 16 would have required a two-thirds vote before a community could create a local-power agency, a requirement widely seen as an attempt to stifle competition. The unsuccessful proposition attempt left bad blood flowing through the PG&E customer base, especially in Marin.
Among those critical of the new SmartMeter rollout are residents who say they're sensitive to the electromagnetic radiation the meters emit, and that SmartMeters trigger health problems. They want PG&E to let them opt out of the SmartMeter program. But the company maintains that's not an option. And the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) backs that position.
Layered on the complaints about the new meters causing health problems are protests that the investor-owned utility is loading the bill for SmartMeter installation onto the backs of ratepayers rather than shareholders. And it's a substantial bill. The SmartMeter rollout is expected to cost $2.2 billion—most of which will come from ratepayers.
The new meters represent a critical link in what will become the nation's smart grid, say proponents. Keeping tabs on power from source to consumer, monitoring the flow of electricity, could boost energy efficiency and reduce the need for new power plants. A SmartMeter, which is the trade name of the advanced meter PG&E contractors are installing in California, can take an energy-use snapshot of a home every hour, and a customer can track energy use to determine where the electricity has been going and when.
PG&E ads now running on television hint that time-of-use knowledge can allow residents to be more energy efficient, but it's an unfocused message that leaves out a critical element in the broad PG&E plan. The SmartMeter strategy and the smart grid vision begin to sharpen when an hour-by-hour time-of-use element gets thrown into the mix.
Call it congestion pricing for power. It works the same as congestion management on bridges and freeways. A resident who runs a dishwasher in the middle of the night would pay less for the electricity than one who runs a load during peak hours in the middle of a summer heat wave. And in a best-case scenario, appliances one day will have the technology to tie into the smart grid. That could allow customers to tell their coffee pots and air conditioners to turn on or off via instructions sent over a wireless system (or a utility might do it for them).
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ALMOST EVERYONE ACKNOWLEDGES the possibilities inherent in a smart grid to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution. Many people do not, however, buy the company line that new meters PG&E and other utilities are installing actually will produce the tangible results they claim, at least not for many years. And if that's the case, say critics, why are utilities, including PG&E, rushing through neighborhoods hooking up SmartMeters at a fast pace?
"It doesn't look to me like the SmartMeters are really an essential part of the smart grid," says Barbara George of Women's Energy Matters. The Fairfax resident has been following the PG&E request for a rate hike, part of which would go toward SmartMeter installation and costs associated to promote a smart grid scenario. She, like other utility watchdogs, recognizes the possibilities but questions the probabilities. "The smart grid is really the stuff that you can put on to the distribution system, and it looks to me like PG&E hasn't done the work it was supposed to have done to realize the benefits of the system of SmartMeters. They would have to put together databases and [other elements] to determine some of the benefits they could potentially get."
George says the utility could "save a bunch of money" because the cost of the meters gets charged to ratepayers, and the company can eliminate meter readers. PG&E acknowledges that SmartMeters could eliminate the need for meter readers, a workforce estimated at about 820 employees in 2011. The company says some of those employees could move to other PG&E jobs. SmartMeters also will allow the utility to turn off power quickly from a central location rather than requiring an employee to go out and do it manually.
"Those are their primary goals," says George. "The other things touted as related to SmartMeters as far as energy-saving devices—that's all up to the individual." George and others recognize that the smart grid could trigger an entrepreneurial boom in energy-efficiency devices and strategies, but she says, "I don't think that's going to be a booming business anytime soon, and according to the general rate case [the rate request now before the CPUC], PG&E doesn't think so either. They are expecting something like 30 percent of customers to do something [related to SmartMeters and the smart grid] by 2025. It's not like it's happening tomorrow."
The rush to roll out became a big issue two months ago in Maryland. That state's version of the CPUC, the Maryland Public Service Commission, rejected a Baltimore Gas and Electric Company request to deploy smart meters as part of a smart grid project. Regulators questioned the real-world advantages of the smart meters as well as the plan to charge ratepayers a hefty chunk of the $482 million plan. The utility resubmitted its plan, acceding to the regulators' stipulation that the company can recoup costs from ratepayers only after the meters are installed.
That's a relatively mild adjustment for many SmartMeter critics. Hawaiian Electric Company has been planning to install a $115 million smart grid project on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. But regulators denied the electric company request because it called for using ratepayer money to pay for installing meters. Critics there also echo the concerns in California that utilities have failed to educate customers and explain the practical benefits and real-world use of the smart grid system before attempting to deploy meters.
Many Californians first heard about SmartMeters when PG&E customers in Bakersfield complained their electricity bills skyrocketed after the utility installed them. PG&E says the electricity bill spike coincided with a serious heat wave, and the bills reflected air conditioner use rather than faulty meters. But reports began surfacing in other areas about questionable bills after SmartMeter installation. PG&E has acknowledged that about 45,000 SmartMeters have exhibited anomalies. Most of the problems resulted from faulty installations, software problems and glitches in the wireless system. The problems, according to the company, represent a relatively small percentage of the total number of meters installed. SmartMeters actually are more accurate than the old analog-style meters, according to company officials.
The CPUC is investigating the meter anomalies and will report results probably next month. The San Anselmo Town Council recently voted to wait until the release of that report before taking any action on SmartMeter installation in town. But Fairfax took a tougher stand. Earlier this month, the council there voted to impose a 12-month moratorium on SmartMeter installation. That kind of pushback, from suspicion to at least temporary rejection, has surfaced in communities across the North Bay and beyond. The Marin County Board of Supervisors joined the chorus calling for PG&E to slow SmartMeter installations pending a review. The board also wants to see a public hearing about possible health effects. Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-6th District, has asked the California Council on Science and Technology to determine whether federal standards for SmartMeter transmissions are sufficiently stringent to protect public health.
According to CPUC rules and regulations, service agreements grant the utility the right to do anything it wants to its meters, including switching out analog meters for SmartMeters. At least for now, the utility says it will temporarily put the brakes on its SmartMeter installations in Marin, but company representatives won't say for how long.
The SmartMeter pushback took the company by surprise. "When we were rolling out the SmartMeter program, we were looking at it more as a technology upgrade, like we would replace a transformer or something of that nature," says PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith. "We quickly realized that for our customers, it was viewed much differently than that. At the beginning, we didn't do a good enough job of listening to our customers and recognizing that they might have a variety of concerns about the SmartMeter program and the upgrade. They weren't viewing it as us replacing a transformer or a pole." Smith says the utility has begun holding a series of customer information meetings as well as other educational efforts.
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ACCORDING TO A state health department study conducted in 2000, about 3 percent of Californians show some sign of electrical sensitivity. A 2004 survey in Switzerland found a 5 percent rate of electrical sensitively among respondents. A Swedish survey in 2002 noted a 1.5 percent prevalence of sensitivity. And in 2007, a survey in the United Kingdom found that 4 percent of 20,000 people surveyed reported that they exhibited symptoms of electrical sensitivity. Although the mainstream medical community doesn't recognize a causal relationship between electrical systems like wireless networks and a wide range of non-specific symptoms like migraines, weakness, muscle aches and worse, some researchers have noted that electrical sensitivity, while not an official disease, is a syndrome, and one worth taking seriously.
Organizations that offer support to those who say they are sensitive to electrical radiation are reporting that the installation of SmartMeters in some cases triggers electrical sensitivity symptoms and in other cases exacerbates them. The wireless SmartMeter system creates a mesh network in a neighborhood, linking meters together, Although an individual meter may transmit data to the utility for only 45 seconds, meters "talk" to meters, creating an overlay of wireless transmission in a neighborhood. And those 45 seconds pack a powerful electrical punch, say those worried about the effects. Alexander Binik, a Fairfax resident and executive director of DE-Toxics Institute, says the SmartMeter program calls for the precautionary principle. He likens the SmartMeter situation to the eventual understanding of the causal relationship between cigarette and pesticide use and health problems. People exhibiting sensitivity now could be canaries in our coal mine. Those with electrical sensitivity say all they want is an opportunity to opt out. But utilities hesitate to let people stay off the smart grid because it dilutes its effectiveness. People who are sensitive counter that their numbers are relatively few, and requiring proof of sensitivity would prevent opt-out abuse.
Last week at a CPUC Thought Leaders meeting, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee was on hand. He acknowledged that the utility had done an inadequate job educating customers on the benefits of SmartMeters. He vowed to improve efforts to spread the smart grid gospel and improve customer relations.
When asked whether PG&E had investigated possible health effects that could result from a mesh network, he dismissed the idea that any detrimental effects are possible. "A lot of really expert people have looked at this issue," Darbee said, reciting an alphabet soup of health and science agencies. Critics remain skeptical. He noted that vendors for the new meters received licenses from the FCC, and the technology passed federal guidelines.
In responding to a question about whether a SmartMeter network is crackable, Darbee said, "Anything you hang on the grid is an opportunity for terrorists, but we can look in at any time and determine the threat level, and the level [of any harmful activity in the system], and we can zoom right in on homes and utility poles in real time and see what's going on. It's pretty amazing."
It's also pretty disconcerting for PG&E critics who still mistrust the utility.
Contact the writer at peter@pseidman.com.
