'Smart' Water Meters Save Utility Money; No Benefit Seen to Customers
Early one morning, a team of utility workers descends on a neighborhood in another parched part of the United States. They go from house to house with one mission: to install new electronic water meters that change how the government records, and bills for, water use. Soon after water bills in the neighborhood skyrocket.
This scene is playing out across Texas and other states with increasing frequency. The installation of electronic water meters is meant to cut costs and save water. The effort reflects a similar change in the way electricity use is increasingly being measured, with smart electric readers.
But the electric meter changes, urged by the Public Utility Commissions, have been more sweeping. More than 5.5 million smart meters have been installed across Texas, bolstered by a 2007 law directing that such meters “be deployed as rapidly as possible to allow customers to better manage energy use and control costs,” and by federal grants aimed at creating a smart grid.
No such law or incentives exist for water meters, according to the Texas Water Utilities Association, which helps utilities improve services. Still, by the end of 2010, over 3.5 million new meters had been installed, says the Texas Water Development Board.
Utility officials across the state say they have encountered little opposition to the new meters. Generally, utilities are not hearing a lot from the public according to the meter services manager in Arlington, which is installing 17,000 water meters through a pilot project. Complaints came mostly after the meters were installed and started returning higher bills.
The Smart Water Meter industries explanation of the higher water bills is that older water meters tend to slow down over time, incorrectly recording actual water usage.
The transition to automatic meters will save money, officials say, because meter readers will no longer have to go from yard to yard. Automatic meters have transmitters that send signals to a collection hub.
The new meters also make it easier to detect leaks, because a utility can see whether a household is using large amounts of water in the dead of night, when few people would normally use it.
But the new meters are not always accompanied by new billing systems that allow residents to view their water use in real time—these can be potentially costly. Pflugerville, which finished installing 13,000 meters in 2009, still provides the data in monthly paper statements.
Having access to water-use data is helpful only if it is used to change habits, according to water policy experts.
When utility companies fixate on overhead savings, the biggest benefit—helping customers save resources and money—is missed. Without accessible data, the customers are in almost the same situation they were in before the switch.
The ultimate question ought to be can utilities manage resources more efficiently?
Utilities do not make it easy to find information about how a customer can opt out of having a smart meter. For example, Florida Power and Light which intends to install 4,500,000 smart electric meters before 2014 lists the endless benefits of smart meters but nowhere on its web pages does it note how a customer can refuse to have a smart meter. One of their main sections lists how the smart meter makes it "easier for customers to manage energy use." They would prefer that the public not know that it is possible to refuse the new technology.
An increasing number of customers are opting out because of what they see as faulty readings and much higher utility bills. 50 clicks and much frustration later a frustrated customer might find this customer care phone number buried deep within their website (FPL 800-226-3545). There one can opt-out though likely not without much more frustration and escalation of their call to a series of supervisors.
Websites like Stop Smart Meters! have sprung up to help customers fight the high bills and government intrusion.
This season its 23-year-old Surf Instructor, Devon Pinto @devonthedoo v. 24-year-old Wilderness Therapy Guide, Cole Medders @cole_medders for best looking survivor.
We're Following:
Devon far left, Cole 2nd from right
For personality, smile, and all that yoga Devon wins hands down. Eyes, its a tie. Body? Cole if you like brawn, Devon if you like lean surfer dude. Who’ll look best at 50? Definitely Devon. His looks will stand the test of time. So for personality and sustainability, we say Devon’s a lock for hottest Survivor Season 35 Hunk.
Cole looked great in early episodes, but . . .for eating with his hands, complaining about not getting his 8,000 calories a day diet, and general stupidity (telling everybody's secrets) we lost interest quickly.
At this writing we still don't know who will win Season 35. Amazingly both Cole and Devon are still in the running. Normally the strongest are voted off first.