BC Hydro Puts In A Smart Meter

A couple of electricians from BC Hydro (BC's electric utility) installed one of the new Smart Meters on the side of our house today, one of the 1.8 million meters that are being replaced in BC and one of the forecast billion smart meters that will be in operation around the world by 2020.

There's been some criticism of these meters - namely the installation costs, the infringement of privacy, and the health risk posed by the culmulative effect of having so many wireless devices in the urban and home environment.

BC Hydro says there is little health risk. According to BC Hydro's FAQ, residential smart meters are active "for a total average of one minute per day" meaning the exposure to radio frequency over the whole 20 years of the smart meter's life is "equivalent to a single 30 minute cell phone call." Of course, the jury is still out on whether cell phones cause brain cancer.

There's no mention in the FAQs of the health impact of wireless hubs that allow smart meters to talk to each other.

Regarding the privacy issue, each day the smart meters will send data - 4 to 6 times per day according to BC Hydro's web site - about energy consumption. This will include the day, time, and your energy use (e.g. 3.14 kWh).

Next year we'll be able to log-in to our account online and see our hourly electricity use in kWh, and dollars, up to the last 24 hours, as well as projections based on actual consumption patterns, and set automatic updates when nearing your usage targets.

Some people feel exposed, even spied on, by such a detailed breakdown of energy use. If you split your electricity bill with another apartment or other people you'll be able to monitor their energy use while away from home. On the other hand, that might be a good thing?

The Vancouver Police Department will no doubt appreciate this kind of granular information when dealing with illegal activities such as pot grow-ups. Hydro says smart meters will allow it to better tackle electricity theft, which it says costs around $100 million a year right now.

There are also legitimate concerns that hackers might intercept your energy use data, and use it to see when somebody is in or not. Hydro says the encrypted data is as safe as with online banking.

The other thing is cost for consumers. The installation costs of the new meters are apparently being paid for by the energy savings (and of course they wont need to pay people to read the meters anymore).

Hydro isn't bringing in time-of-use rate structures immediately, but I'd welcome the option of saving money by using electricity off-peak if it was cheaper and thereby help Hydro smooth out the usage spikes on the grid.