Smart Meters

Peco Energy Co. was awarded a $200 million federal stimulus grant yesterday that will allow it to speed up deployment of "smart-grid" technology, including 600,000 advanced electric meters in the next three years. The grant will allow the Philadelphia electric utility to rapidly roll out a plan to install "smart meters" that will allow customers to monitor electric prices in real time. The utility plans to convert all 1.6 million of its customers to the devices in a decade. The Peco grant was among 100 U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $3.4 billion.

Three years ago, when borough officials brought computerized parking meters to town, they were counting on the "smart meters" to bring in more revenue and generate traffic-pattern reports by keeping track of cars as they parked and pulled away from Main Street curbs. Now, saying the meters have not worked as advertised, borough officials have exiled them to the far reaches of North Main Street, where tourists and shoppers park only after the rest of the street is filled up. Residents and parking officials had complained that the 55 high-tech meters broke down frequently and often reset themselves at random intervals.

Melanie Sellers fed quarters - one after another after another - into the new "smart" parking meter on Chestnut Street overlooking the Schuylkill. After the 11th quarter, the digital display read "3:23" for three hours and 23 minutes, which included a bit of time left from an earlier feeding. After the 12th quarter, "3:38. " After the 13th quarter, "3:38. " Sellers gave the rock-solid meter a few swift smacks of her palm. Nothing. Less than an hour later, the time was erased and the meter was flashing "Out of Order.

Those new smart meters Peco Energy Co. and other utilities will install soon are being touted as money-savers that will give customers more control over their electric bills. But for the utilities, the meters' real worth lies in the information generated, including details that some customers might prefer remained secret. Already, Peco is analyzing daily readings to spot thieves who intermittently bypass the meters and steal power. And experts looking at meter data can discern the telltale signs of illicit activity, such as a marijuana "grow house.

Regulators in two states are investigating allegations of dangerously overheating electric meters after Peco Energy Co. this month suspended installation of the devices when two of its customers' houses caught fire. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission staff has asked Peco for results of its investigation into the failure rates of the advanced "smart meters" the utility began installing in March. Peco says 15 of the 186,000 digital devices it installed have overheated, including several that exploded into flames.

Regulators in two states are investigating allegations of dangerously overheating electric meters after Peco Energy Co. this month suspended installation of the devices when two of its customers' houses caught fire. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission staff has asked Peco for results of its investigation into the failure rates of the advanced "smart meters" that the utility began installing in March. Peco says 15 of the 186,000 digital devices it installed have overheated, including several that exploded into flames.

Seeking to counter Gov. Rendell's $850 million energy plan with a less-costly version of their own, House Republicans unveiled a proposal yesterday heavy on conservation tax incentives and grants. Members of the House Republican Energy Task Force touted their "no-tax, no-borrow" plan as a way to give consumers more choice in how they conserve energy while not penalizing homeowners with additional electricity fees. They unveiled the plan on the first day of a special legislative session on energy.

A ray of sunlight for solar energy in Pennsylvania, a hopeful forecast for investment in other alternative sources of power, and continuing clouds over conservation. That, in a nutshell, was the outcome of last-minute negotiations between Gov. Rendell and Republican leaders over a package of proposals Rendell had touted as his "Energy Independence Strategy. " Rendell had pushed past the traditional budget deadline and helped force a daylong furlough of state workers, partly on behalf of the energy package.

Peco Energy Co. yesterday offered its vision of the electrical grid of the future: In a few years, "smart" electric meters will be able to do much more than measure the power consumed in customers' homes. They will tell customers how much money they are spending on electricity in real time, and offer options for cutting costs. "Your air conditioner will be able to talk to your dishwasher and sequence their usage to save money," Glenn Pritchard, a Peco engineer, said as he surveyed a table of meters and thermostats at the utility's Center City headquarters.

With Pennsylvania electricity consumers facing record rate increases in the next few years, what's the state Senate doing guarding the bottom line of Peco Energy Co. and other utilities? Having delayed action for months on a House-approved energy-savings measure, the Senate last week suddenly gutted key consumer protections in the bill. Utilities will be the winners; consumers and the state's business climate the losers. The Senate approach would leave consumers even more vulnerable to looming double-digit rate increases.