Meters shed light on energy use
Smart meters could let TXU, others charge by time of day
03:05 PM CST on Wednesday, January 31, 2007
By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News
esouder@dallasnews.com
By the end of this year, some electricity consumers in North Texas may have the option to save money by using power in the evening rather than during the day.
Thanks to a major power line upgrade that starts this week, electricity companies could charge different rates based on what time of day electricity is used. Customers who sign up for such pricing plans could get rock-bottom prices at night and on weekends, but pay a hefty premium for power during peak hours.
Consumers will be able to monitor their electricity use and charges in real time, and some will be able to connect to the Internet through power lines.
This week TXU Corp. began installing the initial 10,000 smart meters in Dallas. The new meters are a key piece of a four-year technology upgrade that will turn North Texas power lines into a communications network.
Also Online
See a map showing where TXU will be installing the high-tech meters
"It's a communications network that we lay over the electricity network," said Jay Birnbaum, vice president for Current Communications Group, which created a partnership with TXU last year to help install and operate the new technology.
"We can talk to our equipment that we install throughout the network. We can talk to a modem inside your house if you're a broadband customer. And we can talk to a meter on the side of your house," he said.
Experts say the new technology could change the entire power industry. It will automate meter reading and help TXU Electric Delivery respond to power outages more quickly.
Generation costs go down, because consumers have an incentive to use power during off-peak hours, when it's cheaper to produce. And that means the state could need fewer new power plants to meet peak demand.
When experts talk about what the technology could one day mean for consumers, they describe an energy Utopia, a "House of Tomorrow" in which a consumer uses a Web site to control household appliances, turning on the air conditioner or the oven remotely before leaving work, setting the dishwasher to start when electricity prices drop, or putting the freezer on a strict electricity diet.
Making the switch
It all starts with new meters.
TXU Electric Delivery, the regulated wires-and-poles unit of the Dallas power company, began installing smart meters Tuesday in homes and businesses in Lakewood and surrounding neighborhoods. The trial installation will take about three weeks.
Each installation takes a couple of minutes. Spokeswoman Carol Peters said TXU will leave door hangers explaining the technology. If workers can't reach a meter behind a fence or inside a house, they will leave a hanger asking the owner to call and make arrangements for the switch, she said.
TXU plans to upgrade 300,000 meters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by the end of the year. And by 2011, the company expects to have spent about $450 million to change nearly 3 million meters in its service territory.
All of the new meters will be automated, and many will have broadband-over-power-line technology, including those in Dallas, Fort Worth and some suburbs.
MELANIE BURFORD / DMN
Will Trammell removes an old electricity meter before installing a high-tech replacement at the home of Dean and Hailey Maruna in Dallas. The new meters will be automated, and many will have broadband-over-power-line technology. The new system will read electricity meters 96 times a day. And TXU Electric Delivery will create a Web site where consumers can check their electricity use in real time, Ms. Peters said.
Eventually, Current, which is adding technology to the wires as TXU upgrades meters, will offer broadband Internet service over power lines to consumers. Mr. Birnbaum declined to say when. He said the company will probably roll out the service in individual neighborhoods as the technology upgrades are completed.
The cost of the new technology could trickle down to consumers if state regulators allow TXU to increase the amount it charges electricity providers for using power lines.
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