Smart Metering

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If you have ever driven a hybrid vehicle, you know the impact real-time feedback can have. The detailed dashboard monitor informs the driver of how many kilometres per litre they are getting and whether the engine is running on battery or gasoline power. Not surprisingly, by making drivers aware of their road habits, their driving behaviours can change in remarkable ways.

Currently, most BC Hydro customers glance at their electricity bill each month without giving much consideration to how much electricity they have used or when. But that's about to change – soon customers will be provided with real-time feedback about their electricity consumption. Smart meters are coming to B.C.

The Smart Metering & Infrastructure (SMI) Program is a series of projects and initiatives that will provide customers with near real-time consumption and pricing information, improve reliability, provide additional service options for customers, and help to facilitate energy conservation and efficiency.

Senior Vice President of Smart Metering & Infrastructure, Michele Morgan, comments, "The SMI Program will provide us with a new way of thinking about electricity. By providing customers with the right information at the right time, we will be able to help customers manage their electricity use and save money."

The Smart Metering & Infrastructure Program is not just about exchanging meters, it is about making customers more aware of their consumption patterns and encouraging them to conserve.

In addition to the conservation savings, customers will benefit from improved customer service – better outage detection and faster power restoration, more timely and accurate billing, and advanced conservation-based rate options. The Smart Metering & Infrastructure Program will also enable BC Hydro to better detect energy diversion – reducing theft and mitigating safety issues for the public.

The Smart Metering & Infrastructure Program is closely aligned with BC Hydro's ongoing system improvements that lay the foundational infrastructure for a smarter grid – an automated power delivery network with intelligent, near real-time monitoring and control. Key drivers for a smart grid include the ability to meet customers' needs now and in the future, and the need to continue to deliver reliable power at low cost for generations. Customers will benefit from self-generation options, improved grid efficiencies that help to keep rates low, and readiness for future innovations such as plug-in electric vehicles and programmable appliances.

Smart metering and smart grid developments are gaining momentum across the world. Like BC Hydro, other utilities around the globe are taking action to prepare and respond to the customer of the future. More than 150 jurisdictions around the globe, including approximately 115 in North America are embarking on grid modernization programs. Industry reports show that 76 million smart meters have been installed worldwide, and that number is expected to increase to 155 million by 2013.

Through the Power Smart Program, BC Hydro offers customers tools and incentives to encourage conservation. The Smart Metering & Infrastructure Program will provide a variety of new tools and incentives. It will also help BC Hydro get one step closer to achieving conservation targets set by the provincial government's BC Energy Plan.

For generations, BC Hydro has provided British Columbians with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. As the demand for electricity continues to grow, we have the obligation to meet our customers' energy needs. The Smart Metering & Infrastructure Program will help us do just that.

"We are at the beginning of a major transformation of how we view and use energy. We need the functionality and flexibility of a smarter grid to manage today's increasing energy demands. Embracing these new technologies will encourage British Columbians to adopt a conservation culture," says Michele.