Smart Grid Concerns

As millions of smart meters are being deployed across the U.S., rumors and misperceptions are circulating among groups of individuals. In Shelby County, MLGW has deployed 1,000 electric smart meters at the homes of volunteers participating in our Smart Grid Demonstration. When our project concludes in December 2012, we will evaluate the demonstrated operational, customer service and consumer benefits to determine whether to pursue smart meter technology for all customers.

Safety

Smart meters emit small amounts of radio frequency (RF) to transmit their data. At MLGW, smart meters send their data nightly, in a transmission that typically lasts 30 to 120 seconds. To put this RF into perspective, it's important to recognize that RF is abundant in our society from millions of everyday sources, including cellphones, microwave ovens, wireless routers, radio and TV broadcast towers and even baby monitors. Several organizations have conducted and reviewed research on RF associated with smart meters, including the Electric Power Research Institute and the California Council on Science and Technology. As communications devices, smart meters are manufactured to meet Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards for RF. Even if a smart meter transmitted 24 hours per day and you were standing three feet from the meter, it would still emit far less RF than the average cellphone and less than a microwave oven.

Impact on utility costs

Smart meters are measurement and communication devices, so they alone cannot result in higher or lower utility bills. However, customers who choose to utilize the information provided by a smart meter can reduce electricity use and costs through energy conservation, energy efficiency and load shifting. MLGW volunteers are helping MLGW test web tools, In Home Displays and others resources to better understand when their homes use electricity. For many participants, this awareness is fostering new energy conservation habits to reduce electricity use and MLGW electric costs.

Security and privacy

Electricity consumption data collected by the smart meters is encrypted and transmitted to MLGW using industry-recognized security standards. In addition, it is subject to the same data privacy rules as all customer data.

Remote disconnection and connection

Fifty of the 1,000 smart meters installed among MLGW volunteers include a remote connection feature, which enables MLGW to test the effectiveness of issuing a disconnect and reconnect command from the office in real-time, rather than generating a service order, dispatching an employee and waiting while the employee drives to the property and performs the disconnect and, later, returns to perform the reconnect. This feature greatly expedites customer service, which is a benefit for residents moving in or out, as well as customers who find themselves disconnected for non-payment and often must wait hours before service can be restored.

MLGW recognizes that people are concerned about new technology, so our Smart Grid Demonstration is designed to gather participant feedback in addition to evaluating operational performance and customer savings potential. Read more about the Smart Grid Demonstration at www.mlgw.com/smartgrid