ABOUT EDISON SMARTCONNECT™
- Why is SCE pursuing "smart" metering for all its customers?
- What is Edison SmartConnect™?
- What is unique about SCE's approach to advanced metering?
- Are other U.S. or international utilities looking at similar advanced metering systems like SCE?
- What are some features of the new "smart" meters?
- What are the environmental benefits?
- How will "smart" meters encourage conservation?
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SCE CUSTOMERS?
- When are smart meters coming?
- How will I know when I’m getting my new smart meter?
- How long will it take to install the new smart meter at my home or business?
- Will the smart meter installation interrupt power for my home or my community?
- Can I sign up to receive a new "smart" meter?
- Replacing millions of old electricity meters must be costly. Who pays and how much?
- Will new smart meters mean even higher electricity bills?
- Will the new time-of-use rates mean higher electricity bills?
- If customers do not want to participate in any new programs or services, will they still benefit from the new "smart" meter?
- Will the smart meter monitor my electricity usage?
- How secure is the system and my energy usage information?
WHAT MAKES THE SYSTEM "SMART"?
- What are the components of the Edison SmartConnect™ system?
- How does SCE ensure that the new meters are accurate?
- Will SCE work with other organizations focused on creating intelligent electric infrastructure?
- Why is SCE interested in a "smart" metering solution using open standards and interoperability?
- Why has SCE invested in Narrowband to have the meter communicate with the home? Isn't Broadband the better long term solution?
- How will Edison SmartConnect™ enable plug-in electric vehicles?
- How will the "smart" meters enable home area networking work?
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ABOUT EDISON SMARTCONNECT™
1. Why is SCE pursuing "smart" metering for all its customers?
Answer: California's peak energy use continues to grow. As a result, state energy agencies and utilities are exploring ways to meet customers growing energy needs and offer incentives to conserve and shift usage away from periods of peak demand.
In 2004, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) directed California's investor owned utilities (IOUs) to investigate implementation of an advanced metering infrastructure ("AMI"). AMI "smart" meters would allow customers to take advantage of dynamic rate programs, such as the "Time of Use" (TOU) rates available mostly to industrial customers. SCE analyzed available AMI technology at that time, and concluded that the limited functionality and operational benefits available at the time would not be cost-effective for SCE's ratepayers. So, SCE set out to work with meter manufacturers and technology vendors to develop a more advanced meter and communications system that would offer a cost-effective solution with added customer value and convenience. The result is SCE's AMI network called Edison SmartConnect™.
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2. What is Edison SmartConnect™?
Answer: Edison SmartConnect™ is SCE's advanced metering program and among the nation's most advanced "smart" metering system. The program has redefined the automated metering industry, and is a key component of Edison's smart grid strategy, which brought Edison's grid into the digital age for improved grid management operations.
Through advanced technology, Edison SmartConnect™ will provide SCE customers with new tools, services, and conveniences to help them make better decisions about their energy use. The new "smart" meters will enable new pricing programs, and will provide customers with more information about their energy use to help them save energy, money and reduce their carbon footprint.
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3. What is unique about SCE's approach to advanced metering?
Answer: SCE took a "clean slate" approach to developing the Edison SmartConnect™ program. From 2006 through 2007, SCE worked with meter manufacturers and technology partners to develop a smart metering and communication system that would offer advanced benefits and functionality beyond those required by the state or offered by existing, off-the-shelf technologies. The result was Edison SmartConnect's™ added customer value features. These include two-way communication from the "smart" meter, more energy use information, and home area networking capability, all built on a secure and open-standards platform. These features are helping SCE lay a foundation for future growth and advancement.
The system also supports both Federal and California state energy policy objectives for advanced metering, demand response, energy efficiency and select environmental issues. Edison SmartConnect™ has shared best practices information with utilities and companies nationally and internationally. The program is considered the most advanced in the nation and has received numerous awards for its thought leadership and management.
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4. Are other U.S. or international utilities looking at similar advanced metering systems like SCE?
Answer: Yes. As state energy commissions nationwide move toward implementing energy plans that involve smart grid and advanced metering technologies, national and international utilities and regulators are following the developments of SCE's program. SCE has used an open innovation approach to foster the development and exchange of ideas to take advantage of technologies in computing and telecommunications that already existed for other industries, but had not yet been applied to the electric industry.
SCE invented the concept of the home-area network interface with the meter to create the "connected home". This concept has seen a lot of interest internationally from companies looking to enable energy conservation. Nationally, utilities in California have followed suit, with utilities in Texas, Michigan, British Columbia, Ontario, the Mideast and North Atlantic, also looking to mirror the Edison SmartConnect™ program. SCE's Edison SmartConnect™ leadership has also met with international utilities from France, Japan, India, Australia and Korea, and many more, to share program best practices.
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5. What are some features of the new "smart" meters?
Answer: SCE's new "smart" meter and communications system will provide customers with more information about their energy use, and with advanced tools and services to help them save energy, save money and reduce their carbon footprint. For example, "smart" meters will:
- Communicate personalized energy use information to customers through a secure wireless home area network and on the Web, helping customers make smarter energy decisions that will translate into savings.
- Enable new rate offerings to help customers save money by using less energy during peak periods and when energy prices are higher.
- Communicate with "smart" thermostats, appliances, electronics and solar panels in the home - pretty much anything you can plug in - enabling the programming of smart appliances and devices to respond to energy use preferences based on cost, comfort and convenience.
- Give customers the convenience of remote service turn-ons. If a customer is moving, for example, they no longer need to leave gates open, worry about pets, or wait for a field service representative.
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6. What are the environmental benefits?
Answer: The new system will send peak energy and pricing alerts directly to a customer's cell phone, computer or other in-home display; by programming "smart" appliances and devices to respond to these alerts, customers can help reduce overall peak demand on Edison's grid by as much as 1,000 megawatts - the output of a major power plant.
In addition, sustained energy conservation prompted by the Edison SmartConnect™ program is expected to reduce greenhouse gases and smog-forming pollutants by an estimated 365,000 metric tons per year - the equivalent of removing 79,000 cars from the road.
As the program progresses, Edison SmartConnect™ will also contribute to widespread adoption of solar installations, plug-in hybrid vehicles, energy storage, and other clean technologies that will drive greater environmental benefits.
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7. How will "smart" meters encourage conservation?
Answer: Currently, utilities pay much more for power for their customers on a summer afternoon than in the middle of the night. Residential and small business customers pay the same rate level regardless of the time of day. Today these customers have little incentive to adjust usage patterns in ways that would reduce utility and customer costs and slow the need for new power plants. If electric rates were higher during peak periods and lower during off-peak times, customers likely would find ways to save by moving some consumption to off-peak periods. And, because peak consumption levels determine generating capacity requirements, this change in usage patterns could slow the need for new power plants and reduce the need to purchase expensive wholesale power to address rapidly rising peak demand.
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SCE CUSTOMERS?
1. When are smart meters coming?
Answer: SCE’s smart meter installations began September 2009 in the city of Downey and will continue throughout the Whittier area and neighboring communities. Installations will be completed throughout SCE’s service territory over the next three years with plans to complete about 5 million installations by the end of 2012.
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2. How will I know when I’m getting my new smart meter?
Answer: Customers will receive a pre-installation letter notifying them that their meter will soon be replaced. On the day of installation, customers will receive a door hanger message. It will either confirm the meter installation, or advise of an access issue that requires the customer to call SCE’s installation vendor to schedule installation.
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3. How long will it take to install the new smart meter at my home or business?
Answer: Installing an Edison SmartConnect meter will take approximately five to ten minutes, the same amount of time as installing an existing meter.
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4. Will the smart meter installation interrupt power for my home or my community?
Answer: On a typical residential or small commercial installation there will be a short power interruption of less than one minute. Typically, on larger commercial installations, no service interruption is required to exchange the meter.
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5. Can I sign up to receive a new "smart" meter?
Answer: SCE is taking a thoughtful approach to the "smart" meter installation plan. Planning criteria includes consideration for safety, customer satisfaction, resources and the four-year completion timeline. While the geographic installation schedule does not allow for smart meter requests at this time, SCE is working to publish the deployment schedule on www.sce.com in coming months.
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6. Replacing millions of old electricity meters must be costly. Who pays and how much?
Answer: Overall, the impact on customer rates by SCE's advanced metering project is expected to be negligible. The program is expected to contribute an approximate 1.5 percent increase in customer rates during the four-year installation timeframe. This slight increase, expected to take effect in 2010, will not be applied as a line item to customer bills, rather it will be incorporated in the overall electricity rate. However, customers can more than offset the cost by adopting the programs and services that will be available through Edison SmartConnect, which are expected to generate monthly savings of 5 percent or more.
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7. Will new smart meters mean even higher electricity bills?
Answer: While SCE is seeing upward pressure on costs that forced 2009 electricity rates higher, these are not related to the Edison SmartConnect™ program. They are related to other industry factors such as rising power plant fuel costs and construction of facilities to serve new customers and to reinforce SCE's power delivery grid to accommodate growing electricity use. Higher rates and higher energy use due to extreme weather, such as prolonged heat, are the primary causes for most electricity bill increases.
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8. Will the new time-of-use rates mean higher electricity bills?
Answer: The financial benefits of Edison SmartConnect™ are expected to exceed the costs. Time-of-use rates will be available the second half of 2010 after the new meters are installed. Customers who elect this new option and move some consumption away from afternoon hours could save money as a result of the new meters and rates.
By providing customers with tools to use energy more efficiently, the Edison SmartConnect™ program will ultimately help customers save money.
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9. If customers do not want to participate in any new programs or services, will they still benefit from the new "smart" meter?
Answer: All SCE customers will be able to take advantage of the program's default benefits such as remote service turn-on, turn-off and transfer, and remote meter reads.
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10. Will the smart meter monitor my electricity usage?
Answer: The smart meters will collect cumulative electricity usage data, not specific to an appliance or other electrical device. SCE will receive the data, and communicate it back to the customer to help them understand how their home activities impact their energy use and cost. The data will also allow SCE customer service representatives to recommend energy and money savings programs to customers.
SCE maintains strict confidentiality policies and uses state-of-the-art technologies to safeguard customer information. The Edison SmartConnect program was designed for customer choice, allowing customers to decide which programs may best help them manage their energy use .
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11. How secure is the system and my energy usage information?
Answer: SCE has conducted extensive security planning and testing, and has developed security solutions, many which were adapted from the banking and defense sectors. All information transmitted between the customer meters and the utility is encrypted using U.S. Government-approved and recommended standards. Similar security standards have been implemented for information transmitted between the utility meter and customer-owned smart communicating appliances.
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WHAT MAKES THE SYSTEM "SMART"?
1. What are the components of the Edison SmartConnect™ system?
Answer: The Edison SmartConnect™ system is made up of two important parts - the advanced meter and the communications system. The overall communications system is a two-way system that will be utilized to communicate information from the home to the utility, and back from the utility to the home. The new "smart" meters proposed by SCE are the most advanced in the industry, have become the standard for "smart" meter programs in other states and internationally.
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2. How does SCE ensure that the new meters are accurate?
Answer: SCE’s smart meters undergo rigorous testing at the manufacturing facility, at SCE, and at independent labs to ensure reliability. Meters are also tested in the field under normal operating conditions to ensure we’ve covered all bases. SCE also has teams in place to follow smart meters performance after installation to ensure they are working properly.
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3. Will SCE work with other organizations focused on creating intelligent electric infrastructure?
Answer: Yes. SCE recognizes that as one piece in the mosaic of the utility marketplace, we need to be part of industry efforts to develop the next generation of distribution technologies, including advanced meters. Such efforts include GridWise created by the Department Of Energy, IntelliGrid led by the Electric Power Research Institute and OpenAMI, a task force within the Utility Communications Architecture International Users Group initiated by the California Energy Commission.
SCE must balance the immediate opportunity to enable new pricing, demand response and business enhancements using today's technology with the forward thinking envisioned by GridWise, Intelligrid and OpenAMI. Based on discussions with meter communications vendors, new versions of their advanced metering systems will include the latest developments in open standards for communications protocols because the marketplace is pursuing interoperability and enhanced functionality. SCE evaluated these emerging developments and will pursued options that appear to offer benefits to ratepayers that outweigh costs.
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4. Why is SCE interested in a "smart" metering solution using open standards and interoperability?
Answer: A key goal for SCE is to ensure that an investment in advanced metering for its service territory will be based on competitive and interoperable products. SCE believes the use of open architecture principles and resulting interoperability will allow Edison SmartConnect™ to be flexible and extend its usefulness beyond what we can determine today. This is particularly important given the rapid technology changes and emergent innovations in customer energy systems and distribution automation that could be enabled by an open Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system.
The computer world already has open standards, or "open architecture." Your laptop, for example, can work with all kinds of printers and speakers etc. from other manufacturers, giving you more consumer choices
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5. Why has SCE invested in Narrowband to have the meter communicate with the home? Isn't Broadband the better long term solution?
Answer: SCE's research and analysis support the narrowband decision as the best option to support a wide variety of functionality and ensure the program is cost effective for it's customers. Here's why:
- While higher bandwidth seems appealing, it is not only more costly, but will provide wasted capacity. Simple data, not large data files, will be sent to and from the meter requiring no more than a narrowband connection. Energy pricing information will be sent via the narrowband connection.
- Customer's real-time energy usage and power quality information from the meter will be available securely over a narrowband wireless network.
- The Edison SmartConnect™ communications system was designed to provide full program functionality and high-performance with a narrowband connection from the meter to the aggregation point, and a broadband connection from the aggregation point to the utility. The system was also designed for growth and flexibility to support advanced technology, prevent it from becoming “outdated” and result in long-term benefits for our customers.
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6. How will Edison SmartConnect™ enable plug-in electric vehicles?
Answer: SCE is currently working with major auto makers to advance the national interest in clean transportation. At night, a large part of the power generation infrastructure sits idle and the cost to produce electricity is low. The ability to use off-peak electricity to charge plug-in electric vehicles would help address growing electricity needs and help customers reduce their carbon footprint and save money on energy costs. Another benefit to customers is that in the event of an emergency, electric vehicle batteries may supply backup power, or simply support energy needs during peak energy demand periods.
The new "smart" meters will help customers charge their plug-in vehicles when peak demand periods are over and energy prices are lower. In this way the Edison SmartConnect™ will make it possible for SCE customers to begin fueling at the plug, instead of the pump.
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7. How will the "smart" meters enable home area networking work?
Answer: Edison SmartConnect™ meters are equipped with a wireless radio chip that will enable home area networking by making it possible for the "smart" meter to talk to "smart" appliances and devices. SCE has been working with thermostat manufacturers, for example, to enable communication with the "smart" meter. This would allow programming a home thermostat to maintain a certain temperature in the home during specific times of the day or automatically respond when the demand on the electricity grid is high and prices go up.
The home area network will allow customers to program other home appliances and devices coming to market, to respond to energy use preferences based on cost, comfort and convenience.
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