Smart Meters

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.

It was just a handful of dimes and nickels . . . that added up to 50 grand. It took Robert C. Morris Jr. about eight years to collect the $50,000 nest egg that Bucks County authorities say he stole - pocketful by pocketful - from Doylestown parking meters. Morris, the guy in Doylestown Borough who collected the change from the town's 600 meters, has been charged with theft, misappropriation of government property and related offenses. He admitted to lifting nearly $50,000 worth of coins, said Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubenstein.

Solar energy. Ethanol plants. Biodiesel fuel. Smart meters. For Gov. Rendell, these things have become a passion, if not a part of his potential legacy. But as the legislature prepares to convene a special fall session tomorrow on Rendell's sweeping plan for alternative-energy projects across Pennsylvania, serious questions remain about how much the governor can get past lawmakers who already have fought him on it once - to the brink of a government shutdown. Many issues still divide the two sides, with the central disagreement remaining: how much to spend and where to get the money.

Last month Peco Energy Co. began installing the first of 1.6 million new-generation electric meters, part of a transformation that it hopes will revolutionize the way that customers communicate with the utility. The new meters, which Pennsylvania is requiring for all large electric utilities, allow for two-way wireless communication with customers, setting the stage for time-of-use pricing next year. They also will improve utilities' ability to detect and manage outages, as well as to turn on or shut off customers remotely.

State regulators on Friday stepped up their inquiry into the safety of Peco Energy Co.'s smart-meter installation program, which the utility suspended last month after some devices caught fire. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission scheduled an informational meeting for Thursday at its Harrisburg offices and has summoned representatives from Peco and its three meter vendors. Peco, in a formal written response Friday to questions from the PUC, updated the number of meters that have overheated from 15 to 26. Some resulted in fires that damaged the area where the meter is mounted to the wall, and three caused fires that spread beyond the meter, said Cathy Engel Menendez, Peco's spokeswoman.

No more buying extra time on the meter. No more feeding a stranger's meter. The new "smart meters" being installed by James Jacobs for a test run in Doylestown can detect all such tricks, with sensors that track the car's arrival and departure. And no overstaying your time in the parking spot: The meter will know that, too.

M Released today: National Association of Realtors' sales of existing homes for April. Campbell Soup. T Released today: Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index; Federal Housing Finance Agency's home price index. N.J. Sen.: Budget hearings. Earnings report: Toll. W Released today: Commerce Department's durable goods and new-home sales for April. Pa. House: Consumer Affairs Committee presentation on "smart" meters. T Released today: Commerce Department's Q1 gross domestic product; Labor Department weekly jobless claims.

IN THE REGION Philly Fed survey turns downward A monthly reading of manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area unexpectedly turned negative for the first time in eight months. Economists had forecast continued growth. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Business Outlook Survey for May found that the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector "fell back" from recent months. New orders slipped as pricing pressures moderated, Fed researchers said. Even manufacturing employment, which has been a bright spot, appeared to have tailed off. Survey respondents reported a slight decline in current employment after eight consecutive months of growth.

As long-term price caps were about to expire a year ago, Peco Energy customers learned that cheap and abundant natural gas was easing the pressure on power prices and sparing them some long-anticipated bad news. Customers who chose competitive suppliers were able to save about a penny per kilowatt-hour, offsetting a simultaneous increase in Peco's electricity-distribution rates. Rather than rise 10 percent or more, as widely predicted, the Philadelphia region's overall power prices basically held steady or ticked down.