Consumer's Energy prepares for its statewide expansion of smart meters
A DTE Energy smart meter on an Ann Arbor home. The utility company is one of several in Michigan and throughout the country installing electronic meters on consumer's homes that are intended to wirelessly transmit usage information to the company.
File photo | AnnArbor.com
Consumer's Energy has invested $750 million in to the smart meter program, which won't be installed until at least 2015.
The signing of the new contract with Capgemini, a consulting and technology firm, will help the energy company implement the infrastructure needed as it installs 1.8 million and 600,000 gas smart meters, according to the report.
Smart meters track energy usage in real-time and wirelessly transmit meter information to the utility company.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
aareader
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 1:05 a.m.
It is nice to have information in "real time." The question is what will the company do with this information and to provide better service and better value that might include lower rates.
motorcycleminer
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.
I'm sure the world outside the " dome " is just happy to have electricity and live their lives....
justcurious
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 9:18 p.m.
Well, I'm still waiting for our Edison smart meter. Still hoping the meter reader shuts the gate and keeps the dogs safe. We have Consumers for gas...outside the fenced area.
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
That is the best thing about the smart meter we have. No more meter readers leaving the gate open or startling the dogs!
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 8:09 p.m.
So when does my electric bill go down from all of this promised savings? Let me guess: never
John
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 9:35 p.m.
Now THIS is a fair point. Just because advances in tech make price drops possible doesn't always mean they will drop. See online digital books/music. They just charge the same price (mostly) as before, and pocket more profit, while actually giving you less in many cases.
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:41 p.m.
It is a mandatory computer with a transmitter, on every residence. I'm sure the NSA has no ability to eavesdrop using smartmeters.
ferdcom
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.
How do they read your water meter?
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 8:19 p.m.
There - you see! The secrets of the tinfoil hat are a prohibited topic.
Fordie
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
Question. How long does a tinfoil hat last? Should I be replacing it daily? weekly? or do they last a long time? What exactly would the NSA get from knowing when I use the most power? I would e-mail it to them now to make life easier for them, but I'm pretty sure they just don't care.
Brad
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
Boo!
walker101
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:34 p.m.
Once they are all set both electric and gas a new software program will be set up to control your usage during peak hours , the Federal government will make sure that they'll control your usage with mandates and new regulations. If you don't comply they'll have control to turn you off, More control.
Gerry
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 12:48 p.m.
These so-called "smart appliances" are many stages down the road, and I detect a growing consensus in the utility industry that they do not represent a viable concept. The reality is that smart meters will allow for much faster outage detection, as they automatically report an outage. Right now, the utility only knows that the power is out on a small feeder if you call it in.
Crono
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 2:34 a.m.
Why is everything ALWAYS a conspiracy that the government is secretly trying to do things. WHO CARES!? Even if they were, oh no! What are you worried about? Unless you're doing something illegal, get over it!
Fordie
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:54 p.m.
OR the power company can give you a discount if you run your dishwasher late at night when there's less demand on the power grid. OR the power company can eliminate brown outs without building new power plants by communicating to your fridge that it can turn off for 2 minutes every 15 minutes and the food will be fine. OR the power company can know right away if your power goes out so you don't have to call them. OR you can just keep wishing it was still 1955. Just so you know, the good ole days were not as good as you think they were.
Cheryl Jordan
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:02 p.m.
we don't need these smart meters they are not healthy
seldon
Thu, Aug 1, 2013 : 7:53 p.m.
Thanks, Jack. I stand corrected. (burp)
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 1:40 p.m.
Do you have a cell phone or a microwave Chery? Eat processed foods, or hormone laden meats? If you're concerned about "healthy" there are far better things to worry about. You could always move off grid. Get yourself an outhouse and be "healthy."
Crono
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 2:31 a.m.
The planet is covered in an electromagnetic sphere and there are TV towers, radio towers, cell phone towers, WiFi routers, cell phones, microwaves, garage door openers, etc all around us. The least of your worries should be wireless-transmitting electric meter!
Jack Gladney
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 2:24 a.m.
No, seldon. Only if you eat the smart meters. Those are the ones that are not healthy. Dumb meters are OK to eat as they are healthy.
seldon
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 12:01 a.m.
They're unhealthy if you EAT them.
John
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:19 p.m.
You bathe in radio frequencies every second you live. If you run a WiFi router, you can most likely be assured this will not kill you any more than that will.
pawky
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 6:16 p.m.
I hope that they set aside some money for tin foil hats.
Gerry
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 : 12:45 p.m.
I admit that the only reason that I clicked on this article was to hear the silly libertarian conspiracy theories in the comments section.
John of Saline
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 9:15 p.m.
Double-layer. Doesn't work otherwise.
NSider
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 5:56 p.m.
How about some input from KNOWLEDGEABLE information security professionals? Since everyone is connected to the same network (the electric grid), I would be curious to know what protections are being afforded, guaranteed, offered?
hail2thevict0r
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 10:32 p.m.
Brad, first off - as other people mentioned - you could simply just sit there and wait for someone to leave. Why would someone waste time cracking an energy meter signal when there's far more efficient ways of figuring out if someone is home or not. How about the tried and true ring the door bell and see if anyone answers? If someone really wants to monitor my energy use to the point where they not only hack the signal but then sit outside of my house....then I say go for it.
GoNavy
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 8:50 p.m.
@Brad- I'm sure just hanging out outside of somebody's house accomplishes what you've set forth, with a lot less technical effort.
Brad
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 8:14 p.m.
One potential issue would be if someone could monitor your real-time energy usage then they could probably predict if you were there or not.
John
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:18 p.m.
@hail2thevict0r I guess maybe some people are squeamish about people being able to read their energy usage wirelessly? Because...maybe they're self-conscious about how much juice they suck down on any given day and don't want their neighbor guilt-tripping them about it? I mean, it's the same info the power company already reads, just through a different avenue, and more often... Maybe we need tinfoil meter coozies now in addition to tinfoil hats?
hail2thevict0r
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 7:03 p.m.
Protections against what?
seldon
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 : 6:16 p.m.
They've been too busy dealing with people who think these meters cause cancer, lupus, autism, and gluten intolerance.