B.C. Updates the Grid

This month, BC Hydro begins the roll-out of its installation of smart meters in residences in the South Lower Mainland and Northern Interior of B.C. By August 2012, all the homes and businesses throughout the province will have new meters, and B.C.’s grid will finally come into the 21st century.

The shift to smart metering is a big deal for this province. It’s a significant investment of over $900 million, and is an important development in BC Hydro’s 50-year history.

Let’s think back to the time when BC Hydro was created and the meters that currently adorn the dark corners of our houses were installed. At that time, my parents fought over whose turn it was to get up and change the channel, my mother typed my father’s doctoral papers on a manual typewriter, and my great aunts lived in fear of not having the strength to dial 0 in case of an emergency.

Fast-forward 50 years: Giant plasma high-definition home-theatre systems have replaced 11-inch black-and-white TVs; fast personal computers have displaced manual typewriters; and smartphones have made dial-ups obsolete. Add to this things like automated kitchen appliances, outdoor hot tubs, electric lawn mowers, and myriad other electronic conveniences, and it’s a wonder our grid hasn’t collapsed under the pressure of all the increased demand.

Although the smart-metering program was conceived years ago, BC Hydro is only now in a position to implement the program. Ten years of rate freezes legislated by the provincial government have meant that investments in the electricity infrastructure have not kept pace with our rate of growth. Consequently, BC Hydro is now trying to play catch-up to modernize the grid so that it can support new innovations like electric vehicles and solar panels.

The introduction of the smart-metering program will not put BC Hydro on the cutting edge (most global utility companies made the switch years ago) but the broader program roll-out is unique. In addition to replacing the near-obsolete electromechanical meter with a digital smart meter, BC Hydro is introducing four other major initiatives.

1. BC Hydro is upgrading its technology and telecommunications infrastructure to enable two-way communications. This way, when there is a power outage, BC Hydro won’t have to wait to hear about it from a frantic customer; it will know immediately, and will be able to isolate and manage the problem right away. The new, modernized grid will also allow for a two-way flow of electricity, support micro-grids and distributed generation, and enable BC Hydro to integrate meter-reading with load-forecasting and outage-management systems.
2. BC Hydro is providing incentives for customers to purchase in-home feedback tools to help them get real-time consumption and price information. I know my daughter will want a digital display unit in our house so that she can show me how wasteful I’m being when I keep the lights on or run unnecessarily small loads of laundry.
3. BC Hydro is introducing a new conservation website that will provide real-time and comparative information to its customers about their energy consumption. It is also developing a modernized communication system with its customers using a variety of modes of communication, including social media. Soon, you’ll be able to receive power-outage messages directly to your smartphone (perhaps something like, “Don’t bother coming home for dinner tonight, because lightening has struck a poll and the electricity is off in your house”).
4. BC Hydro is implementing new theft-analytics software, which will indicate when and where someone has tampered with the electricity along the grid. Currently, when a “grow op” or other operation steals electricity, the other BC Hydro customers pay for it. According to a study by Darryl Plecas and Jordan Diplock, “electricity theft and ‘illegitimate’ power purchases by indoor marijuana growers is costing BC Hydro customers $154 million per year.”

So, with all of the operational efficiencies, energy savings, revenue protection, and enhanced reliability, why isn’t BC Hydro shouting out the benefits of smart metering from the mountain tops (or at least the nearest transformer tower)? BC Hydro has set up a website that provides the business case and overview of the program, but the company is soft-selling the program. This is because even minor promotional efforts have received some pushback. Some customers who are concerned about privacy issues fear BC Hydro’s greater scrutiny of their lives. Others see smart metering as the first step towards time-of-day rate changes, and still others fear that the new meters will emit radio-frequency waves that will be harmful to their health.

While I think privacy is an issue, online computers and debit and credit cards provide far more data about my day-to-day life and choices than a meter relaying information about my electricity use at home. And concerns about radio-frequency waves are a red herring: According to Vancouver’s former medical-health officer, Dr. John Blatherwick, “there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health.” In fact, studies suggest that I would have to stand next to a smart meter for 20 years to receive the same exposure to radio-frequency rays that I receive from a 30-minute cellphone call.

As for time-of-day rate changes, I am anxious to see them introduced into B.C. as a means to promote conservation and enable our utility provider to gain greater control of our electricity loads. But I understand that, unlike in Ontario, we are some distance away from seeing time-of-day rate changes emerge in B.C.

Two other issues that bear a little more scrutiny are 1) the loss of jobs that will come with the metering program, and 2) the overall cost of the initiative. I’ve come to enjoy those rare moments when I actually meet the young man or woman reading my meter. I know that smart meters will mean these 200-or-so meter readers will be out of work. And while I recognize that there will be some job opportunities for smart-meter installers, they will only be short-term positions. So what is BC Hydro doing to retrain workers to perform the new, perhaps more sophisticated, tasks of running a modernized grid? Will meter readers have a chance to gain professional development so that they can step into the green jobs that will emerge with the upgrades?

BC Hydro is investing almost a billion dollars in this upgrade, which is a large investment of the public’s money. What systems are in place to ensure that the costs do not escalate out of control? What accountability checks exist to ensure that BC Hydro reports the results of the new program back to British Columbians? Will the minister responsible for BC Hydro keep British Columbians informed of progress and provide an accounting of the benefits over the next five years? These are questions that remain unanswered.

There is no doubt that the move to smart metering is long overdue in this province. BC Hydro has laid out an impressive plan to improve the safety and reliability of our electricity needs, both now and into the future. As the stewards of this process, the board and senior-management team of BC Hydro will have their work cut out for them to ensure that they deliver on the promises of a modernized grid that will bring the utility into the 21st century.