Smart Meters
Meters have evolved substantially over the years, and the replacement of current mechanical meters with more efficient Smart Meters has started. These new meters have two-way, digital communication capabilities, but initially they will continue to measure your electricity use. Your ability to get information from your Smart Meter will vary, so you will need to contact your company to find out how to access your usage information.
In the future, these state-of-the-art meters will help provide you with many features available through Smart Metering or Advanced Meter Systems (AMS). These electronic communication systems record and store electricity usage from Smart Meters and send that information to your Transmission and Distribution Service Provider (TDSP). The TDSP provides this information to your Retail Electric Provider (REP) for billing purposes.
Benefits
When fully implemented, consumers will be able to track their electricity consumption in 15-minute intervals online through the web site www.smartmetertexas.com, or through an in-home monitor if you choose to purchase one. Knowing how much electricity you are using throughout the day will allow you to proactively manage your electricity usage by choosing to turn something down or off altogether or by postponing an energy-consuming task to a different time of day when electric rates are cheaper.
Some appliance companies are already working on creating "smart appliances" such as dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers that interact with Smart Meters and can be controlled remotely by the customer or through a home area network (HAN). There is also technology that will allow a customer to plug an existing appliance into a special wall plug that can communicate with the Smart Meter.
Smart Meter Safety
Smart meters communicate energy consumption data to your electric utility provider through brief low-level radio frequency (RF) transmission signals that occur for one to two seconds. People are exposed daily to low levels of RF energy, including natural RFs om both the earth and the human body and man-made RFs om common electronic devices.
These everyday devices typically cause signifi cantly greater exposure for longer periods of time than smart meters, including cordless phone base stations and microwave ovens, which are usually positioned closer to the user. Additionally, RF exposure drops rapidly with distance.
In order to prevent serious health impact om exposure to RFs, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with the advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other health and safety agencies, has set limits on power densities om electronic devices.
The smart meter, which is installed on the exterior of a house, emits an RF signal that is at least ten times below the FCC standard and is considered safe for everyday exposure.
To learn more about radio equency technology and safety, visit the FCC website at: www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety.
Other Benefits of Smart Meters
- Remove the need to send people to your property to read your meter.
- Reduce utility vehicles on the road and thus pollution, traffic, and fuel consumption because in-person meter reading will no longer be necessary.
- Reduce the time needed to process service orders, such as starting or stopping service; and allow faster meter re-reads, should you have questions.
- Record electricity use in 15-minute intervals, giving you more information about your electric usage which may allow you to change how much and the way you use electricity – giving you the information you need to shift some of your electric usage to less expensive, off-peak times.
- Let you switch among Retail Electric Providers (REPs) easier and shorten the length of time that you must wait for the switch to become effective.
- Offer faster customer service through automated remote meter reads, connections, and disconnections by the utility.
- Enable the utility to protect critical loads (such as customers on medical equipment for life support) in case of a blackout.
- May allow you to prepay a set amount that you want to spend on electricity for the month (potentially allowing you to have complete information, control, choice, and customization).
- Will provide instant power outage notice to your utility company so that problems can be detected and fixed quicker.
- Will eventually provide access to detailed readings of your electricity use and the corresponding price.
- Will eventually enable communication with programmable devices (like your air conditioner or dishwasher) through an optional "in-house display" device that you can buy to monitor and control power consumption.
- Will offer additional benefits as technology advances.
Frequently Asked Questions
