Massachusetts Makes Smart Grid Mandatory

[kristopher]

Massachusetts Makes Smart Grid Mandatory
A new law requires smart meters, grid planning, and new models to value it all.

Jeff St. John
December 31, 2013

Massachusetts has joined a growing list of states demanding that its investor-owned utilities invest in the smart grid -- and find new models for how those investments should be valued. Consider it the latest move in a state-by-state reconfiguration of utility business models, aimed at creating new rules for sharing the costs and benefits of grid modernization between utility shareholders and customers.

Monday’s order (PDF) from the state’s Department of Public Utilities will require the state’s big utilities to submit a ten-year grid modernization plan (GMP) in the next six months. Advanced metering will be required as part of that plan -- a significant development in a state which has seen almost no smart meters deployed to date.

These upcoming smart meter plans will need to include technology and business cases, not just for core automated meter reading functions, but for a range of additional features like outage detection and restoration, smart appliance communication and control capability, and support of power quality and conservation voltage reduction.

The plans also must include a request for pre-authorization of investments, along with “a mechanism to allow for more timely cost recovery than is typically available” under state regulations. That’s where the state’s proposal for coming up with a new way to measure the costs and benefits of these deployments comes in.

Massachusetts has about 3.4 million electricity customers, all but about 400,000 of which are served by an investor-owned utility....

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/massachusetts-makes-smart-grid-mandatory

[NYC_SKP]

1. Ooooh, Smart Meters!

I want to buy a reasonably priced but accurate and sensitive EMF meter to put to rest the unfounded fears people have of these things.

The fear and hatred of these from some on the left is one of those rare cases of dissonance- I guess ignorance.

Stupid meters won't work toward creating a Smart Grid.

[kristopher]

2. You're in California, right?

If so, this might interest you.

...Meanwhile, CAISO is eager to incorporate smart grid technologies that “offer key capabilities including two-way communication and devices for dispatch and performance measurement,” in order to bring more demand response participation to the ISO market. But it also notes that its current metering and telemetry requirements “have not leveraged the capabilities and new models that new technology enables at a much lower cost,” and the agency says it’s working on changes to those requirements over the next two years.

California’s Roadmap for Balancing the Demand Side of the Grid

California’s Roadmap for Balancing the Demand Side of the Grid
Demand response, efficiency and California’s plan for a green-powered, stable grid
Jeff St. John, January 2, 2014
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/californias-roadmap-for-balancing-the-demand-side-of-the-grid

'The Duck' is included

[NYC_SKP]

3. Yes, and thanks for the link.

I've actually twice toured the Cal ISO and have their Outlook app. I'm sure you've visited their pages.

http://www.caiso.com/Documents/ISO_TodayMobileAppFeaturingTodaysOutlookAlerts-CalendarNowAvailable-Download.htm

I like looking at the daily graphs for resources and demand and the renewables view which was only added in the past few years.

http://www.caiso.com/Pages/Today%27s-Outlook-Details.aspx

(I wonder if these will refresh with current data)

Resources vs Demand:



Renewables:

[NoOneMan]

10. Here is a gist on the CT angle...

I live in BC BTW. We just switched to these. Almost all of us anyways.

Well, "some people" (lots mind you) get this shit off Facebook that these meters emit radiowaves that will cause cancer, and they are being implemented by the government with an attempt to "soft kill" the population--which, mind you, is a strange thing for a government to do when it has a negative birth rate from domestic population.

Anyway, a lot of people went around causing hysteria over them. Every few houses you'll see NO SMART METERS signs up by the meters, demanding the meter changer gets off their property. There is an amazing amount of these holdouts. I get a kick out of them when walking through neighborhoods.

BC Hydro said screw it and just decided to charge these people $35 extra bucks a month. The price of ignorance and conspiracies.

[NYC_SKP]

11. We got that here, too, thank you for the reply!

We should get out there and sell tin foil hats, no?

[bananas]

12. Your electric utility will send someone out with a meter if you ask them

I think they started this a looong time ago, looong before smart meters.

http://www.sdge.com/safety/electric-and-magnetic-fields/our-emf-program-and-services

Our EMF Program And Services

EMF Services is your single point-of-contact for questions about electric and magnetic fields. This CPUC-mandated program is staffed with representatives who can answer your questions about EMF issues like the following.

- Magnetic fields from existing or proposed power lines near homes, schools, or businesses
- EMF and health research
- Computer monitor or other technical interference

Whether you are an individual residential or commercial customer, or represent a community group, a public agency, a school district, or a builder or developer, EMF Services can help with up-to-date, objective EMF health information, technical assistance and free magnetic field measurements for your home, workplace or project.

Questions?

Contact SDG&E's Customer Service at 1-800-411-SDGE. (7343)

Request a Brochure or Measurement Appointment

Online EMF request form

Even brand-new "properly functioning" appliances can generate a lot of EMF:

http://www.eham.net/articles/8232

Electric Blanket Interference
from Mike Higgins - K6AER on May 15, 2004

Let me introduce my self. I am a ham radio operator of 45 years and a RF engineer for a major cell phone carrier. I live in Rural - Elizabeth, Colorado. I started to receive a sweep pulse type of interference in January 2004 in the HF band. It sounds like a click on the audio and pumps the AGC quite hard.

I found the problem to be a Perfect Fit electric blanket at a neighbors house about 1/4 mile away. The power supply/blanket is radiating about a 3000 uV signal as measured on my spectrum analyzer at 30 meters with a reference loop antenna. The sweep signal is from 2-60 MHz in a 1-2 second sweep. The power supply was connected to an electric blanket pad supplied and hung vertically. The blanket makes a nice loop antenna. This power supply is clearly in violation of part 15.907 rules for none radio devices. The ruling states that a non radio device may not emit more than 100 uV at a distance of 30 meters from 2-30 MHz. I contacted Perfect Fit Industries and they have not gotten back to me about the problem. It is my understanding they have placed this sweep frequency radiation through the blanket to sense when some one has gotten into bed in order activate the power supply. Nice idea in China but a non starter here in the US. Besides the interference problem, there is the RF exposure factor to be mitigated for human exposure. Does OSHA know about this?

These blankets are being sold everywhere in the Denver area and I would imagine this is also the case over most of the USA. This has a greater potential for combined HF interference than BPL. The aggregated signal combining of several blanket power supplies, times households in the neighborhood could bring the noise level on your HF transceiver to S9+40 dB. A single blanket received on my beam antenna placed the sweep interference at S9+25 at a distance of 1/4 mile. This was observed from 13-30 MHz. On a center fed ZEP the signal was S9+10 from 1.8-14 MHz.

<snip>

I called Perfect Fit customer service and talked to Rhonda. She said it's a "known problem," and they are redesigning the power supply, which will be plug-in replacable. It should be availble in June. Meanwhile, customers with blankets that are causing interference should call the customer service number and get on the list for a replacement:

<snip>

[truedelphi]

4. K & R. If you or a close friend get fired from job as meter reader,

Please PM me. There is a way to sue the Federal government for the loss of your job.

The "Smart meter" program was the EPA's proposal that then became (IIRC) approved by Congress. There is part of the US Civil Code that indicates that if your job is lost due to Federal Law, you can sue for back wages and damage.

[kristopher]

6. That's a bizarre assertion

The technology for utilities to read meters without sending anyone out has been spreading since they figured out how to use power lines for IT functions. It has little to nothing to do with the meters that are part of a "smart grid".

[truedelphi]

8. However PG & E in California has consistently maintained

that even if they wanted to back away from the Smart Meter program, the Federal government is behind it.

That seems to be the case:

https://sites.google.com/site/nocelltowerinourneighborhood/home/wireless-smart-meter-concerns/first-and-foremost-are-wireless-meters-mandatory

From the above link:
Congress set in motion the federal government’s efforts to modernize the electricity grid in Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA).18 Title XIII stated that it is the policy of the United States “to support the modernization of the Nation’s electricity transmission and distribution system to maintain a reliable and secure electricity infrastructure that can meet future demand growth,” and to achieve a variety of specific goals, including the development and deployment of real-time metering and “smart” devices, the integration of distributed energy resources such as renewable energy, and improved management of both energy supply and demand.19 Congress gave DOE primary responsibility for coordinating and funding Smart Grid efforts, along with reporting back to Congress on the progress of Smart Grid Development.20

####

The EPA situation is even more pertinent, although since I don't have my Tetra gig HD device connected today, I can't research it chapter and verse. But the dictates that smart meters were to be done was indeed handed down by the EPA, some time ago. (Late Nineties, maybe?)

Anyway, on account of the US Civil Code, a person who has lost their job as a meter reader can sue the Federal government, since it is the government behind this program. That chapter and verse I have in an actual book, which I probably can locate in the next ten hours or so.

[kristopher]

9. "nocelltowerinourneighborhood" ???

Sources like that are among the least reliable available. They are small-issue opposition oriented organizations that have no interest outside of accomplishing a single goal. Since they have no stake in establishing long term credibility, their zeal for their cause usually leads to distorted reporting and outright false claims designed to stir up people and play on fears.

They might serve as a point of reference for what a debate on any given issue consists of, but using their 'findings' as a credible backstop to your opinion is a good way to go astray in understanding the full measure of what is right and wrong about the cause at hand.

Just being in opposition to something that society writ large wants doesn't mean you are on the right side of the issue. Smart meters are an excellent example. The primary source of opposition to smart meter programs are those interests who will be damaged by increased use of renewable energy. The coal and natural gas companies, for example, like things just fine the way they are. It is an established pattern for them to use astroturf organizations to front for their cause and disseminate bad information to public that simply doesn't have time to become experts on every technical issue that affects their lives.

This is a real problem for well intentioned policy-makers to deal with. A good example on the same lines can be seen in groups that "certify" things. Let's say you have a hypothetical strong grass roots movement to reduce the amount of lumber used from unsustainable harvesting - including what goes on in old growth forests. The cause catches on and attracts political support at high levels, and a movement gives birth to a well run, completely legitimate non-governmental organization whose purpose is to give their seal of approval to those lumber businesses that go to the extra trouble and expense of doing business in a socially responsible way.

Great! Problem solved, right?

Not so fast. In short order one of two things is liable to happen; the logging companies that don't want change will try to insert themselves into the certifying organizations structure and corrupt it from within, or they will form their own similar organization that will certify anything the bad actors wish.

That is a normal and expected behavior on the part of dark forces within the business world.

This is why peer review of information is so important. The claims you are making about smart meters don't pass the smell test. Unless you can provide much better data and documentation of the problems you are stating, you should ask yourself if you are passing on legitimate concerns or whether you might not be acting on behalf of the very type of forces you think you are opposing.

[truedelphi]

13. The reply I made had legal wording that is accepted at 387 different websites.

I am sorry if the one site I choose out of that melange didn't meet your standards.

However legal wording is still legal wording.

I stand behind that legal wording.

[kristopher]

14. What is a measure of valid information?

The way you use 'legal wording' is giving weight to something that has none. Let's look at it.

From the above link:
Congress set in motion the federal government’s efforts to modernize the electricity grid in Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA).18 Title XIII stated that it is the policy of the United States “to support the modernization of the Nation’s electricity transmission and distribution system to maintain a reliable and secure electricity infrastructure that can meet future demand growth,” and to achieve a variety of specific goals, including the development and deployment of real-time metering and “smart” devices, the integration of distributed energy resources such as renewable energy, and improved management of both energy supply and demand.19 Congress gave DOE primary responsibility for coordinating and funding Smart Grid efforts, along with reporting back to Congress on the progress of Smart Grid Development.20

It references a law, but it only paraphrases it, with a very short snip (now underlined) that is from the supposed piece of legislation. It may well be true, but is the way that snip is being used true? Does it actually support the underlying claim that deploying smart grid technologies is going to result in job losses?

The smart grid has many, many elements besides the meters, and it is something socially desirable but a threat to many large corporate interests. That being the case, isn't it at least possible that your information isn't a proper reflection of your own value system? I mean, are you sure you are actually performing an act that is to the benefit of the little guy?

[truedelphi]

5. BTW, although many people oppose Smart Meter program due to concerns about health risks,

There is also concerns about the ease for hackers to disrupt the power grid once Smart Meter program comes online.

Here is a link to many concerns, and you only need to scroll down a little ways to read about James Woolsey's concerns. (Woolsey is retired CIA.)

http://emfsafetynetwork.org/smart-meters/

[kristopher]

7. That is a concern, but no more than the present grid's vulnerabilities.

That group you're citing looks like something funded by ALEC or the Koch brothers more than it does a legitimate advocacy group.