Oncor's 'smart meters' kicking off broadband-over-power-line system

Oncor's 'smart meters' kicking off BPL system

07:35 AM CDT on Wednesday,
September 19, 2007

By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News
esouder@dallasnews.com

North Texas now officially has the largest broadband-over-power-line system in the country.

Only we don't actually have BPL service yet, not until around the end of the year. But behind the scenes, the new technology is beginning to prove itself and capture the attention of state electricity regulators.

"These are interesting times," said Jim Greer, vice president of asset management and engineering for Oncor, the regulated power-line unit of TXU Corp.

Oncor's BPL network, which the company is building with Current Communications, now covers 106,000 homes. Oncor has installed so-called smart meters at 61,000 of those homes, allowing the electricity company to communicate directly with those meters at any time, Mr. Greer said Tuesday.

Oncor plans to install 130,000 new smart meters by the end of the year.

Mr. Greer said the new technology has already allowed Oncor to detect grid problems before they cause outages, because the company can closely monitor any little disturbance in the grid and pinpoint the problem.

In February, an Oncor engineer, using the new technology, noticed unusual grid activity.

A worker went to the problem spot, noticed a loose bolt at a power line connection and tightened it.

Without the new technology, Oncor wouldn't have known about the loose bolt until it fell off, power went out, and a customer called to complain.

The Public Utility Commission likes the new technology so well that it would like to see every household upgraded. The commission wants new power line companies to be able to disconnect customers remotely, to monitor electricity usage throughout the day, and to communicate with appliances inside the home.

Trouble is, Mr. Greer said, even the cutting-edge smart meters can't do all of that. Not yet, anyway.

So Oncor is working with its technology vendors to come up with an even better meter. Oncor can keep the meters it has already replaced and plans to replace this year, he said.

Mr. Greer said he's pleased his project got a stamp of approval from regulators. But he doesn't know how much the future upgrades will cost.

Oncor said in January that its plans to upgrade 300,000 meters by 2011 would cost $450 million. Since Oncor is regulated, the company can ask the PUC to pass any smart meter costs directly to consumers. The cost would be part of a consumer's electricity bill.

After Oncor installs the equipment, other companies can begin offering consumers special products that draw on the new technology.

Consumers don't yet have electricity monitors that charge various rates throughout the day – or any other nifty product the new technology would support.

A pilot project to test how BPL technology could be used to help electricity consumers cut their bills has been put off for a couple of months.

And separately, DirectTV Inc. plans to offer broadband services over the upgraded electricity lines.