By the end of 2009, 145,000 smart meters will be installed along with the necessary communications infrastructure and computing systems. 2.4 million meters are expected to be installed system-wide by the project’s completion in 2014.
“This is a significant achievement in our technology development,” said Kenny Mercado, division senior vice president, advanced metering system deployment. “Smart meter functionality is an important step in providing consumers with the insight and tools to monitor their usage so that they can make smart energy decisions.”
Smart meters will be read remotely virtually eliminating the need to go house to house. The smart meter functionality also enables remote connection and disconnection of electric service, which should reduce the time it takes to process service orders for most homes and some small businesses.
With this functionality, REPs can also view their customers’ historical 15-minute interval usage over an interim CenterPoint Energy Houston web portal and in 2010 a portal will be available to consumers as well. This will help consumers monitor the effects of thermostat adjustments or changes in energy use. Using less energy can save consumers money, which means less power may need to be produced, benefiting the environment.
In addition to providing enhanced functions that increase consumer awareness of their energy usage, the new smart meter functionality will make it easier and more cost-efficient to create home area networks to monitor electric usage with in-home devices and remotely control Zigbee-enabled appliances and thermostats. Consumers should contact their REPs for more information.
