BC Hydro Smart Metering update
VANCOUVER – The installation phase of BC Hydro’s smart meter program is 75 per cent complete and nearly 1.4 million smart meters have been installed across the province.
Independent testing confirms smart meter banks safe
Planetworks Consulting, a North Vancouver-based telecommunications engineering firm, has conducted another independent study on BC Hydro’s smart meters and confirms again the technology is safe.
The latest study looks at a meter bank of 40 smart meters installed in a high density residential complex in Victoria, B.C. Among the findings from the report:
• Radio frequency from a smart meter does not increase as a result of more meters in a meter bank.
• The average transmission time per meter a day is 2 to 3 seconds including days with higher traffic such as network formation and simulated network disruption.
• The signal from the smart meter measured adjacent to the meter room remained at or below the level detected from radio, TV, cellular, and WiFi signals in the nearby vicinity.
The Planetworks Consulting report can be viewed in its entirety at www.bchydro.com.
Scientists support smart meter technology
A group of Canadian scientists has issued an open letter in support of smart meter technology that criticizes concerns about the health effects from radio frequency exposure from the meters.
The authors – made up of scientists and engineers primarily from Polytechnique Montreal and McGill University – summarize a number of arguments made by smart meter opponents and give a counterpoint to each one including:
• Studies do not show an increase in cancer rates following exposure to radio frequency at intensities equivalent or lower to those emitted by cell phones.
• There is no evidence that an individual is capable of detecting the presence of radio frequency by its effect on the body.
• If smart meters are banned, Wi-Fi, cellular phones and TV antennae should also be banned as these devices emit similar or higher intensity levels and frequencies than smart meters.
The open letter is available for reading at www.polymtl.ca/en/.
Update on quality assurance meters
In February, BC Hydro’s meter supplier Itron asked to test 1,000 smart meters to check their own manufacturing process. This is a small number of the nearly 1.9 million meters BC Hydro is installing and the meters are being replaced through the manufacturer’s warranty.
All the meters have been tested and less than one per cent did not meet BC Hydro specifications. The testing of the meters was not related to high bill inquiries and there have been no bill impacts to customers who had their meter replaced.
With nearly 1.9 million new meters being installed across the province, like any new electronic equipment, BC Hydro is finding a small number that have components that stop working shortly after they are installed.
In the future, when the smart grid is operational, BC Hydro will be able to detect many of these meter errors automatically. However, until the network is fully established BC Hydro is relying on meter readers and customers to notify them if a meter is not working properly.
BC Hydro takes a number of steps to ensure the accuracy of new meters:
• Before the meter supplier Itron produces any meter, they send BC Hydro the prototype and it is tested for accuracy.
• After accuracy is confirmed, Itron is required to prove the meters they are producing meet Measurement Canada requirements. This continues throughout the production process.
• Once the new meters arrive in B.C., BC Hydro sample tests the meters again and the accuracy of the meters is subject to audit by Measurement Canada.
BC Hydro issues over one million bills per month. To date, BC Hydro has adjusted six customer bills where a smart meter was the cause of a bill being incorrect.
Regulatory update
BC Hydro has submitted its latest Smart Metering and Infrastructure Quarterly Report to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) for the period of Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 2012.
Since 2010, BC Hydro has filed quarterly reports with the BCUC on the status of the project including updated forecasts of expenditures to completion. With 75 per cent of the new meters now installed, expenditures are tracking to be on or below budget.
For more information, please contact:
BC Hydro, Media Relations
604.928.6468
bchydro.com/media