By Katie Richard
The Oshawa Express
Come early 2011, if you’re looking to save your pennies you’ll have to do the laundry and run the dishwasher sometime between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
They’re smart enough to tell your power company just how much power you’re using and exactly when you’re using it.
They are called smart meters and they are heading Oshawa’s way – whether you like it or not.
“The term smart meter means it has the capability of storing data,” says Scott Nash, manger of metering with Oshawa PUC.
“The meters (Oshawa has) now take readings every two months, the smart meters can take a reading every hour.”
Residents will then be charged a certain amount for electricity based on the time of use and the day of the week. This is known as the time-of-use (TOU) rate schedule, says Oshawa PUC’s website.
Oshawa PUC will switch to the new rate schedule by June 2011, Nash says.
TOU rates will tie electricity prices to the level of demand on the system. When demand and the cost of producing electricity is highest, an “on-peak” rate will apply. At times when demand and production costs are lower, rates will also be lower, the website says.
“It (peak times) vary between summer and winter,” explains Nash, adding that between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. are traditionally “on peak” times where as from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. is off-peak times.
The other time slots are known as mid-peak times and carry their own rate too. Weekends and holidays are off-peak times, Nash adds.
Right now, electricity rates are based on averaging out the more expensive and cheaper prices of electricity.
But come June next year, residents will be charged based on time of use.
Currently, the price for peak time is 9.9 cents per kilowatt, eight cents for mid-peak time and 5.3 cents for off-peak time, says the Ontario Energy Board.
The meters, which are being installed across the city now, are mandated by the provincial government, says Nash.
They will be installed on all customers who have an under 50-kilowatt load, which is most residential and small business customers.
The provincial mandate has the meters being installed by Dec. 31, 2010 but Nash says Oshawa PUC may be dealing with a few customers into the new year.
“We’ve hired a company to do most of the installations…it’s about a six month contract,” says Nash, adding the company began installing the meters in Oshawa on May 18, 2010.
Some residents have expressed outrage that they haven’t provided permission for the company to change out the meter but Nash says they don’t need permission.
“We don’t need consent because it’s our equipment. But we do try to notify them,” he says.
The company will knock on the door beforehand, or change the meter and leave notification letting the homeowner know of the change, he adds.
“We are trying to send out letters in the billing cycle before the meter will be changed too.”
For the meters that are located inside a home, Oshawa PUC is setting up appointments for the meters to be changed, the manager of metering explains.
The smart meters will allow for increased load in the years to come, says Nash, just like solar panels.
“We’re not using the same level throughout the day…we have to be able to supply whatever the peak demand is,” he says.
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