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About MLGW : SMART GRID FAQ
Smart Grid Frequently Asked Questions
What is Smart Grid?
Smart Grid is a combination of equipment, communications and processes that utilities use to provide enhanced operations.
Smart Grid includes distribution system automation, smart meters, and features that inform and motivate customers to lower their energy use.
Smart Grid builds on many of the technologies already used by electric utilities in the U.S. and around the world, but adds communication and control capabilities that will optimize the operation of MLGW's electrical grid.
Is MLGW implementing Smart Grid enhancements?
Yes, though these enhancements will be limited in scope initially.
MLGW has been awarded a $5 million Smart Grid Investment Grant that will bring automation and reliability improvements to the downtown and medical center areas.
This will allow MLGW to monitor circuits and transformers that serve the downtown and medical center areas.
It will also help with preventive maintenance because we will know more about what is happening with the system at any given time. MLGW's system operators will be notified immediately of problems, allowing for quicker response times.
The downtown-medical center project does not include the installation of any smart meters.
MLGW also plans to implement a smaller Smart Grid project that will add 40 automated switches that would help to reduce the number of customers affected by a particular outage. The switches would allow power to be automatically redirected in order to minimize an outage's effect.
MLGW is targeting those circuits that have had the longest average restoration times for these automated switches.
Will smart meters be installed for MLGW customers?
Because the Department of Energy awarded all $3.4 billion during Phase 1 and subsequently canceled Phases 2 and 3, MLGW was not able to submit its Phase 2 proposal to install smart meters for about 70,000 customers in six ZIP Codes concentrated inside the I-240 loop.
Instead, MLGW has scaled back its plan to install smart meters. MLGW soon will seek 1,000 customer volunteers for a Smart Grid Demonstration project, in which smart meters would be installed at these customers’ homes.
There is no particular part of town targeted for the Smart Grid Demonstration at this time. To minimize costs for communications equipment, however, participants need to be located in concentrated geographic areas. As a result, MLGW will analyze communications infrastructure and then seek neighborhoods where interest is highest to determine the volunteer recipients.
These demonstration volunteers would receive a smart meter that would provide them with hourly information about their energy usage and additional energy saving tools through MLGW's My Account feature online. Some customers also would receive an in-home display to monitor real-time energy use and cost information.
Participants in the demonstration would not have to report outages (since the meters would send outage signals automatically) and would not be subjected to estimated meter readings.
How can I volunteer to participate in the Smart Grid Demonstration?
Once communication infrastructure has been determined, MLGW will contact the residents and neighborhood associations of the areas deemed most suitable to seek volunteers. If an area does not have enough volunteers, residents in that neighborhood will be ineligible.
Customers wishing to express interest in the demonstration now can email their name, address, phone number and email address to: smartgrid@mlgw.org
MLGW will log these requests but cannot guarantee participation at this point.
How do Smart Meters work?
These secure, digital, two-way communicating meters measure electricity usage and enable customers to see how much energy they are using and how much their bill is going to be.
What do these new meters provide that the old ones can’t?
For homes, existing meters are currently read once a month. Unless you read your meter yourself, you have little idea how much energy you have used and how much you owe until your bill arrives.
Some large businesses have meters that are read nightly, but most are still read once a month.
Existing meters do not have the communication capabilities to report outages, so customers must call to ensure MLGW is aware of their outage.
Much like the automobile changed our method of transportation, smart meters are transporting customers and utilities into the future with better ways to control operations and costs.
Are other utilities implementing Smart Grid?
Yes, the seeds of Smart Grid were planted in summer 2003 in the aftermath of the massive blackout in the Northeast, as government and utilities analyzed how to fix the vulnerabilities of the nation’s aging electric grid.
Many utilities began implementing Smart Grid in the years following, with the recent influx driven by a national initiative supported by President Obama.
The Department of Energy awarded approximately $3.4 billion for Smart Grid projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, with 97 utilities receiving funding—including MLGW and utilities in Knoxville and Chattanooga. In addition, many utilities have moved forward with Smart Grid enhancements without government assistance.
The link below shows a map that displays where utilities are installing smart meters across the nation:
http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/uploads/1/SmartMeter_Rollouts0209.pdf
How long will it take to implement Smart Grid?
Any part of the Smart Grid project that includes stimulus funds must be completed within three years. MLGW expects the Downtown/Medical Center enhancements to be completed well before the three-year deadline.
The 1,000-meter demonstration project would likely be completed by the end of 2010.
Will Smart Grid cause rates to go up?
The current Smart Grid projects will not have an affect on MLGW rates.
The total cost of the downtown/medical center project is a little over $10 million, with the grant covering half of this total and MLGW providing the other $5 million. This $5 million is in the 2010 MLGW budget, which contains no rate increases for customers.
The $1 million Smart Grid Demonstration project is also included in MLGW’s 2010 budget.
Will Smart Grid devices cause interference with my electronics?
Smart meters transmit at a power level of less than one watt on special frequencies that will not interfere with the operation of televisions, radios, stereo equipment, garage door openers, wireless Internet connections, or other electronic devices commonly found in a home or a business.
Where can I get Smart Grid information?
MLGW: www.mlgw.com/smartgrid
Smart Grid Today: www.smartgridtoday.com
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© 2009 Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. All Rights Reserved.
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