Million-dollar 'smart meter' ban proposed
Posted: 08.27.2013 at 10:07 PM
FOUNTAIN, COLO. -- A ballot issue in Fountain is trying to ban a newly installed utility measuring system. "Smart meters" have already been installed at 75% of Fountain Utility customers' homes, which the company estimates to be about 16,000 residences.
The measure was put on the ballot by way of a citizen-sponsored petition. Enough signatures means voters will decided on the allowance or ban of smart meter technology in November.
According to utilities, an approval of the ban would cost the city more than $5.4 million, and would almost certainly mean a hike in rates.
It would mean $3.3 million to replace the meters with an older model, and the city would need to return the $2.13 million dollars from a U.S. Department of Energy grant.
The upgraded meters were approved in 2009 and installation began in November 2012.
Initial concerns led Fountain Utilities to give their customers a choice.
"In response to the opposition, we provided our customers with the opportunity to delay the installation of the new meter and in the future, opt out of the program so they didn't have to get the meter," Curtis Mitchell, Director of Fountain Utilities explained.
Now concern continues, and an approved ban could remove customers' chance to opt-out, instead forcing the utilities provider to change all the meters back to analog.
The main concerns are over privacy and health.
Supporters of the ban argue the privacy standpoint that it could be known hour by hour when they're using power, and that the company or government could use that information to adjust rates or charge more at peak times.
They've also argued that hackers may have the ability to obtain their personal information from the meter's stored or transmitted data.
Mitchell said they've heard those concerns and sent the meters to a medical company who tests pacemakers and other devices. He said they were unable to hack the data because of its encryption, and that personal data isn't stored in the meters themselves, but at the company's data center protected by numerous firewalls.
He said the meters aren't designed to monitor usage for monetary benefit, but instead to lower operating costs by reducing the amount of service calls since the meters can be monitored and controlled from their hub. He says users will be able to see their energy use real-time so they can adjust accordingly to save energy, or to study sudden increases to target a faulty appliance.
Mitchell also said it will help utilities to identify faulty transformers, or transformers that are being overloaded so they can fix them preemptively instead of waiting for customer calls that power has gone out.
Another main concern is for health and well-being of customers living with a smart meter.
Critics argue the radio frequencies will be continuously going through their homes. They say it could interfere with medical devices like pacemakers, by throwing off their signal. Many makers of pacemaker warn that radio frequencies can affect the device's effectiveness. They argue that even having it next door could be enough of an impact, therein supporting the city-wide ban.
Mitchell said these are serious concerns. He hopes to have open communication with customers about the differences between their current meter and the smart meters. He said the smart meters emit less frequencies than the current meters.
"This technology replaces an automated reading system that Fountain Utilities put in place 13 years ago. It replaces a meter that has a radio in it, with an electric meter that has a radio in it, just with more capabilities," Mitchell explained. He said the digital readers that have been used in Fountain for more than a decade send data back via radio frequencies every 3 seconds. The smart meters send data once every 24 hours.
Mitchell also said the monitoring and access to turn off power will keep first responders safe.
The Fire Department weighed in on the decision as well. They are concerned over the potential loss of the ability to remotely shut off utilities from the main system, a necessary step before fighting a structure fire.
"We have people responding to those fires and we have instances where firefighters come in contact with live electrical wire, so certainly we look at public safety to see what we can do to help our first responders," Mitchell said.
The remote shutdown is exactly what was done during the Waldo Canyon Fire to prevent further damage or injury. Colorado Springs has had the smart meters since 2008.
"In the case of a fire the ability to get a call from dispatch, and remotely turn the power off, that keeps first responders safe," Mitchell said.
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