FPL's `smart meters' put electric usage at your fingertips

FPL's `smart meters' put electric usage at your fingertips
With FPL's new meters, customers can measure their electricity consumption down to the hour.

BY STEPHANIE GENUARDI
sgenuardi@MiamiHerald.com

While shutting off your refrigerator from your cellphone may still be a dream, Florida Power & Light is taking the first step toward futuristic living.

FPL has installed 550,000 ``smart meters'' in Broward and Miami-Dade County homes, of which 140,000 have been activated, FPL executives told The Miami Herald this week.

FPL customers who have the meters will be able to access information online about their household energy consumption down to the month, week, day and hour once the devices are activated, typically three months after installation.

``Devices like this can't save you energy,'' said Bryan Olnick, FPL vice president of customer service. ``It's going to be up to you to turn off that switch. We can give you the information.''

But the hope is that in providing household energy usage information, customers will be motivated to decrease their consumption to reduce costs and subsequently conserve energy.

FPL hopes to complete installation for 750,000 Broward and 980,000 Miami-Dade customers by the first quarter of next year and then extend coverage to Palm Beach County and the company's other 4.5 million customers across Florida.

FPL is rolling out the smart meters based on company efficiencies, and customers cannot call and request a new meter on their own.

The efforts are being accelerated after FPL received a $200 million grant from the Department of Energy.

``The focus initially is all of our residential customers through 2013. The next phase is commercial, and the DOE grant is going to start that process,'' Olnick said.

Overall, the project is expected to cost $800 million. ``It's a big investment,'' Olnick said.

The project is part of a larger Energy Smart Florida initiative aimed at establishing a network of ``intelligent devices,'' which collect data that is sent to a diagnostic center to identify, troubleshoot and perhaps even prevent such issues as power outages and overheated, malfunctioning equipment.

The initiative is geared toward achieving ``less reliance on having to go out physically'' to remedy problems and access meter readings, explained Irene White, FPL's director of distribution.

As it is now, FPL employees travel to a property to get an energy reading then mail a bill to that customer with a single number signifying the customer's energy consumption for that month.

With smart meters, ``you can get an idea the fifth day of the month what your bill is going to look like,'' Olnick said. ``It seems like a very small device that could be really transformative.''

The big difference: The smart meter has a radio inside of it. The radio facilitates constant communication between FPL and the device, and thus FPL and its customers.

The company is even experimenting with communication between household appliances and the meters.

The device can be upgraded remotely, and if the power goes out, FPL can respond without a customer having to call in. The smart meter notifies FPL immediately.

The company currently has more than 100 employees installing the GE-manufactured devices; 110,000 more meters are expected to become activated over the next few weeks.

Once the meter is activated, the customer will receive a letter indicating the website where they can access their energy information. If the customer does not have access to a computer, they can call an FPL representative, who will relay the information over the phone.

``It's exciting,'' White said. ``We're all jazzed up about the smart meter.''

lmmd wrote on 05/27/2010 11:56:17 AM:
Replying to octopusm (05/27/2010 10:01:47 AM):
"No matter what the company does, the folks that posts in this forum have an attitude of "dam if you do, dam if you don't" towards anything FPL does. This is great article, we will have control of our power usage by finding by hour what our kilowatt consumption is and yet all you do is bring your...":
actually I think it is great but you've got to realize that the attitudes here are due to actions on FPL's part. The bare fact that Armando lives like a king and had helicopter use on the backs of the ratepayers will not be forgotten until he's gone.

And no, it isn't that easy to steal radio waves but it can be done. What you're ignoring and seem to apparently be ignorant of is that with the advent of wireless, knowledge and understanding of radio waves will become a lot more prevalent and so will the misuse of them.

Reply to this Comment Recommend (0) Report abuse

laureyssens wrote on 05/27/2010 11:39:12 AM:
Florida Power & Light the Electric Monopoly found something new to spent (steal)money.they charge 11.50 cent for the first 1000 kwh and 13.59 cent above for something costing just 3 cent,maximum 3,5 cent to produce the difference between 1000and above is just another way for them to make money because the alternators dont stop at 1000 or refuse to produce cheaply at 1000
I wonder how much it costed them to put the regulators asleep(bribe them)This monopolies have to be transformed from for profit corporations to COOP'S
rendering the Regulators and huge staff obsolete,contributing to the budget balance

Reply to this Comment Recommend (0) Report abuse

alcallejas wrote on 05/27/2010 10:52:04 AM:
Call me crazy, but I'd like to know when I'm using the most electricity....you may realize that you turning your AC down at night is costing you more than it's worth.

Reply to this Comment Recommend (0) Report abuse

furano2 wrote on 05/27/2010 10:39:27 AM:
Too bad for the grow houses. Now their power consumption can be monitored by DEA from a laptop instead of wasting helicopter gas every night. LOL.

Reply to this Comment Recommend (0) Report abuse

octopusm wrote on 05/27/2010 10:01:47 AM:
No matter what the company does, the folks that posts in this forum have an attitude of "dam if you do, dam if you don't" towards anything FPL does. This is great article, we will have control of our power usage by finding by hour what our kilowatt consumption is and yet all you do is bring your stupid ignorance to the table. I can't believe you folks, you can't steal radio waves that easily, they are encrypted. And I you have friends on other states or municipalities, ask them how much they pay for kilowatt hour, you find put they pay more. Let's give credit where credit is due.

lmmd wrote on 05/27/2010 08:44:21 AM:
I wonder how long before neighbors start stealing electricity from homeowners - no way are these devices safe.

BabyGirlChicago wrote on 05/27/2010 07:55:00 AM:
I wonder if FPL paid for this ad/story? Amazing what has happened to the media in this nation. For a few ads from the public school or FPL they sell their soul and become a soundboard for them.

wpozo wrote on 05/27/2010 01:18:15 AM:
This is just a way for power companies to charge higher rates during peak use. They say its for the environment and that is certainly a motivation but the real drive is the ability to charge higher rates during peak hours!


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/27/1650106/fpls-smart-meters-put-electric.html#ixzz0p99iSPPJ