Many homeowners in Ontario have heard of Smart Meters, and soon those who have not will have to: the provincial government has mandated that all homes in Ontario have Smart Meters installed by the end of 2010.
According to a recent Canadian Ipsos-Reid survey, about one-third of Ontarians who use the internet are completely unaware of Smart Meters, and only one-quarter of Canadians outside Ontario have even heard of them. After having the Smart Meter concept explained to them, 37 per cent of online Canadians became only “somewhat interested” in Smart Meters, contrasted by the 23 per cent who were “extremely interested” and finally, four out of ten Canadians are just plain not interested in Smart Meters.
Currently meters must be read manually, but most residential meters are only read bi-monthly resulting in estimated bills. Even when the meter is read, human or machine error and improper readings can still result in these padded energy bills, and when no reading is available and without a SmartMeter, some companies may just use the reading from the year prior. Imagine making strict sacrafices and a sincere effort to reduce energy consumption and cut costs while having the bill just end up based on use from last year instead.
Smart Meters will allow energy consumption to be monitored by the hour, resulting in the possibility of pricing for different times of the day as well as allowing consumers to be more involved in keeping up with the growing “going green” initiative by allowing them to make informed choices about conserving electricity. Consumers can focus on shifting their high-energy use to lower price periods, for example: using certain energy-hogging appliances (especially those 10 years or older) such as air conditioners, washers, dryers and electric stoves during off-peak times. Costs per kWh vary by three different times: off-peak, mid-peak and on-peak being the most expensive at 9.1 cents per kWh and ranging from around 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer. Debt retirement and delivery charges on electricity bills are also mostly determined by an individual’s energy use and can add to the savings.
Keeping the central air on without a Smart Meter costs between 19.95 cents and 23.10 cents per kWh, but during off-peak times with a Smart Meter and time-of-use billing, the cost is significantly less at 14.70 cents.
Soon it may be very easy for anyone to monitor their energy usage closely with PowerMeter, a new Google program currently being tested and planned for later this year. The tool will allow users to view their home electricity consumption on their personal iGoogle page, as well as compare results with those of neighbours and gain a better insight into how they can be more efficient.
Some companies have already implemented time-of-use rates and others will begin rolling out this method of billing this year. Customers will also be notified in advance before time-of-use billing goes into effect.
