PG&E Customers Complain About New Smart Meters

A large number of PG&E customer in the San Francisco Bay Area have been complaining about errors (mainly over billing) with their new smart meters. 1,500 customers have complained, and when a local TV station visited one home owner who’s bill increased from $100 a month to $380 a month it found that the meter had been improperly installed.

Read an article on this.

2006 and 2007 Peak Load Reduction from Demand Response

The total potential peak load reduction reported by entities for all regions and customer classes is 37,335 MW, up 26 percent from the 2006 FERC Survey results, and represents approximately five percent of the total forecasted U.S. peak demands for summer 2008 (752,579 MW), according to the 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey.

peak load reduction from demand response technologies

How Much Electricity Can Demand Response Save?

Demand response can save a significant amount of energy through more efficient matching of supply generation with demand. From the 2008 FERC Survey:

2008 FERC Survey asked respondents to provide estimates of the potential peak load reductions (in MW), actual peak reductions (in MW), potential MWh change and actual MWh changes as of the end of the 2007 calendar year  demand response on a national and regional basis.

Survey respondents reported potential peak load reduction totaling 37 GW for all customer classes in all regions. Using this information, and other available data, we estimate that the potential annual resource contribution of demand response resources in the United States is about 41 GW, which is about 5.8 percent of forecasted U.S. peak demands for 2008.76

FERC actions with regard to individual ISOs and RTOs regarding Demand Response

From the 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey, here is what different ISOs are proposing to the FERC regarding their intentions for implementing demand response smart grid application technology:

Midwest ISO: FERC conditionally accepted the Midwest ISO’s proposal to implement a dayahead and real-time ancillary services market. The market design provides for the integration of demand response resources into reserves markets and includes scarcity-pricing provisions that should encourage demand response to participate. FERC also conditionally accepted the Midwest ISO’s resource adequacy program, which contains mandatory requirements for any market participant serving load in the Midwest ISO region to have and maintain access to sufficient planning resources. The program provides that the resource adequacy requirement can be met by any qualified planning resources, be they generation capacity or demand response.

NYISO: FERC conditionally accepted NYISO’s proposal to allow certain demand response resources to offer operating reserves and regulation service into the NYISO-administered markets, provided they install real-time metering and meet certain performance criteria and technical specifications comparable to those required of generation resources. FERC required NYISO to provide information on the progress of the ongoing process to accommodate batch loads and energy storage technologies in providing operating reserves and regulation service.

California ISO: FERC continues to monitor the California ISO’s efforts to integrate demand response resources into its markets. Demand response resources meeting certain requirements can currently participate in the California ISO’s energy and ancillary services markets as Participating Load. In compliance with a prior FERC order, the California ISO filed its first annual demand response report in January 2008.90 Additionally, the California ISO has engaged in a stakeholder process to enhance opportunities for demand response resources to participate in the California ISO’s markets after the initial release of its market redesign and technology update (MRTU) program. The California ISO intends to allow demand response resources to bid into the California ISO energy markets and provide certain ancillary services.

SPP: FERC continues to monitor SPP’s efforts to integrate demand response resources into its energy imbalance services market.92 SPP filed two status reports in 2007 regarding its progress in implementing demand response. In its August 1, 2007 filing, SPP discussed how its market design currently accommodates behind-the-meter wholesale generation. SPP also reported that it has a three-year commitment with the Electric Power Research Institute to explore best practices of demand response and energy efficiency. On February 4, 2008, SPP filed a follow-up report, stating that it was working on market design issues that needed to be resolved in order to enable demand response to participate directly in the energy imbalance services market. In order to discuss ways to break down implementation barriers, SPP hosted a Demand Response Educational Forum on July 27 and July 28, 2008.

PJM and ISO-NE: In PJM, FERC responded to a complaint challenging the sunset of an incentive program for demand response. FERC also acted to address concerns about potentialgaming in the demand response programs in PJM and ISO-NE.

Online Document Management and Document Scanning Service - OfficeDrop

OfficeDrop is a cloud filing system, scanner software provider and document scanning service that helps small businesses manage paper and digital documents. OfficeDrop provides tools that sync businesses’ desktops and scanners with an online search engine and cloud filing cabinet. The affordable service saves businesses time and money by enhancing paper based collaboration and workflows, and by bringing paper to digital platforms. The company’s ScanDrop scanning software is available both as a Windows version and ScanDrop for Mac. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, OfficeDrop was founded in 2007 and has won awards such as AlwaysOn Global 250 and MITX Technology Awards. For more information, visit www.officedrop.com.

Advanced Metering Penetration by Region

Florida and Texas lead advanced metering penetration, well ahead of other regions in the United States and Canada.

Advanced Metering Penetration by Region

Advanced Metering Penetration by Region

Source and text: 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey, Figure II-3.
AMI penetration by region
Region 2006 Survey 2008 Survey
FRCC 0.1% 10.4%
ERCOT 0.7% 9.0%
SPP 3.0% 5.8%
SERC 1.2% 5.8%
RFC 0.4% 5.1%
MRO 0.6% 3.7%
WECC 0.5% 2.1%
Hawaii 0.0% 1.6%
NPCC 0.1% 0.3%
ASCC 0.0% 0.0%
Overall Average 0.7% 4.7%
Source: 2006 FERC Survey and 2008 FERC Survey

Another Benefit of Demand Response

Smart demand response can minimize congestion, increase efficiency within markets, and enhance reliability of the entire energy/electricity system.

Demand response is one of the most important smart grid applications!

Read more in 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey

Advanced Metering Penetration by Utility Ownership Structure

Advanced metering penetration varies by the type of utility. Cooperatives lead penetration of advanced metering.

Advanced metering penetration by utility

Advanced metering penetration by utility

Source and text: 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey, Figure II-2.
Penetration of advanced metering by type of entity
Ownership 2006 Survey 2008 Survey
Cooperatives 3.8% 16.4%
Municipal Entities 0.3% 4.9%
Investor- Owned Utility 0.2% 2.7%
Public Utility District 0.1% 2.2%
Federal and State 0.2% 1.1%
Overall Average 0.7% 4.7%

One Benefit of Demand Response

Incorporating demand response resources into planning horizons and load forecasts allows transmission providers more accurately understand the energy needs of their areas, thereby deferring or offsetting investments in new peak generation or transmission.

Demand response is one of the most important smart grid applications!

Read more in 2008 FERC Demand Response and Advanced Metering Survey

North American Regional Reliability Councils

List and map of the North American Reliability Councils:

Source: Wikipedia/Bouchecl

Source: Wikipedia/Bouchecl

 

FRCC – Florida Reliability Coordinating Council
ERCOT – Electric Reliability Council of Texas
SPP – Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
SERC – SERC Reliability Corporation
RFC – ReliabilityFirst Corporation
MRO – Midwest Reliability Organization
WECC – Western Electricity Coordinating Council
NPCC – Northeast Power Coordinating Council
ASCC – Alaska Systems Coordinating Council

Obviously these groups are critical for adoption of the smart grid.