The city of Longmont is closer to launching its advanced metering system, after signing a contract with Landis+Gyr to deploy the city’s smart meters starting this spring.
Advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI, captures the energy use of a home or business more accurately than traditional meters, according to a news release from Longmont Power & Communications, the city’s power provider.
Instead of being read once a month, the AMI system reads itself for a few seconds every hour. That data allows for greater energy efficiency, a faster response to outages and easier incorporation of distributed energy resources such as rooftop slower systems, according to the news release.
“Longmont has been working to draw more of our electricity from renewable sources, but it’s also important to make the best, most efficient use of the power we have,” said Longmont Power & Communications Executive Director Dave Hornbacher in the news release. “As Longmont becomes a more sustainable community, tools like this enable our efforts to achieve the goal of 100% renewable energy electric community by the year 2030 and provide our customers with more information than ever to manage their energy usage while also adding further dependability to an electric service that’s already among the most reliable in the nation.”
Doe Kelly, a critic of advanced metering, said that not enough has been done to ensure advanced metering is safe and to let residents know about the potential dangers of the technology.
“One of my chief concerns is that the general public is uneducated about (wireless) smart meters, what they are, what they do, what sort of potential adverse effects they might have that include fire hazards, security risks, the possibility of hacking and cyber snooping, and last but certainly not least, the addition of another unwanted layer of electrosmog by microwave carrier …” Kelly said via email.
“Has there been any concerted outreach in the community, any attempt to educate the population of what a smart meter is, its benefits, its possible drawbacks?” Kelly said. “If there has been, I am not aware of it.”
An initial deployment of 500 electric meters will begin in spring 2022 in southern Longmont in an area near the Longmont Service Center. After completing the first phase, LPC expects to begin a citywide rollout of the new meters near the end of 2022, taking about a year to complete the build, the news release states.
“Adding intelligence and communication capabilities to the electric grid is a crucial first step in being able to transition toward clean energy resources while maintaining affordable and reliable electricity for homes and businesses,” said Jay Lasseter, vice president of Industry and Growth at Landis+Gyr, in the news release. “We look forward to supporting Longmont Power & Communications’ grid modernization goals with advanced metering, networking and data management systems that improve efficiency and foster the development of new services for customers.”
Landis+Gyr is a “leading global provider of integrated energy management solutions for the utility sector,” according to the news release. With sales of $1.4 billion in U.S. dollars in FY 2020, Landis+Gyr employs around 5,000 people in over 30 countries across five continents, with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better, the news release states.
The news release states some of the new capabilities that gradually will be deployed over the next three years include:
- Electric Outage Detection: Smart meters will report any power outages to LPC’s Operations center within seconds, allowing crews to begin restoring service more quickly.
- Potential New Rate Programs:The new meters could allow LPC to offer lower rates for off-peak consumption, such as an electric vehicle owner who recharges their car overnight.
- Reduction in Field Trips: LPC will be able to connect and disconnect electric service in seconds, saving the hundreds of trips that are currently required for manual turn-ons and turn-offs. Since electric crews won’t need to travel to the site, that also reduces Longmont’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- Energy Awareness: LPC staff will be able to help customers see their consumption hour-by-hour, allowing them to make more energy-efficient choices than would be possible with the current monthly report.
LPC estimates that it will cost about $14 million to deploy the metering system. Electric rate adjustments were made in 2020 and 2021 to cover the cost and no tax dollars are being used to build the system, the news release states.
Nationwide, older hand-held meters are being steadily phased out in favor of AMI. As of 2020, U.S. electric utilities had nearly 103 million AMI installations, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Customers who do not want to receive a new meter will have the option to opt-out during the buildout, but will be charged an additional monthly fee to have their meter manually read, the news release states. An ordinance establishing the opt-out procedure is scheduled to be considered by the City Council on Feb. 8.
