Politics & Government
Power-saving Meters Debut in Montrose, La Crescenta
At a ceremony marking the installation of Glendale Water and Power's final Smart Meter, the company unveiled a customer data device that looks like a picture frame and works like a meter reader.
It took less than 30 seconds for Glendale Water and Power manager Stephen Kim to install the company’s final Smart Meter during a ceremony at Glendale Community College Thursday.
The installation marks the completion of 120,000 electric and water meter replacements, . The new meters are part of the company’s Smart Grid program, the first of its kind in the nation, aimed at reducing energy consumption and lowering customer bills through technology rather than just turning off the tap or lowering the AC.
“I’m probably gonna bust my buttons because I’m so proud of what we’ve done,” Glenn Steiger, GWP General Manager, told the nearly 75 ceremony attendants, including representatives from local and state government.
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GWP began switching out the meters in fall 2010. Thursday’s final meter installment marks the full deployment of GWP’s Smart Grid project. Steiger noted that more than $70 million was invested in the program, including $20 million in grants. He expects the program to pay for itself within five years.
And customers can expect more Smart Grid technology headed for their homes.
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At the ceremony, GWP unveiled an in-home display device that provides real-time usage data, allowing customers to manage their utility consumption and make adjustments during higher-rate periods such as heat waves. The reader, resembling a digital photo frame, can transmit customer meter readings to GWP through a private, secure Wi-Fi network and will also allow GWP to send alerts and messages directly to customers. Steiger explained that with the readers in homes, there will no longer be a need for customers to call GWP if the power goes out, as the readers will “have already told us.”
“The readers are now in five to 10 homes as part of the pilot program,” Craig Kuennen of GWP said. He said GWP plans to take the readers “full scale around January.” The readers will be offered to all GWP customers.
The readers can also display uploaded personal photos, eliminating aesthetic concerns and offering a place other than the fridge to display family pictures.
For more information on the Smart Grid program, see the GWP website.