Westar Energy’s SmartStar program director answers your questions about smart meters being installed in Lawrence

Hal Jensen, director of Lawrence’s SmartStar program for Westar Energy, will answer your question about the smart meters being installed in Lawrence from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

LogicMan

Will the new meters allow, and properly track, feedback of any excess power from solar panels to the grid? Thanks.

down_the_river

Will smart meters allow billing in the same way demand meters do for some businesses, measuring the peak level of demand over a set period of time, sometimes as brief as 15 minutes, rather than measuring the overall level of electricity use? Westar sets the billing level based on the electricity consumption during the period of peak demand, which could surprise residential users in the summer.

jdcooley

I understand that smart meters will be able to cycle off appliances during peak usage times for customers who have agreeded to allow this in exchange for lower rates during off peak times. Will this same signaling ability be available in real time for customers who want to generate their own power during peak periods (peak shaving)?

PaulRitzman

I live just west of Lawrence and get my service through Kaw Valley Electric .Last spring I recieved a smart meter and my rate shoot out the roof over a 30% increase! Will everyone in Lawrence recieve the same increase ?

robdew

Do these meters use ZigBee for communication? If so, how are you specifically compensating for the ZigBee security problems published by Joshua Wright of InGuardians and his colleagues?

Ami

Will the new Meters being wireless create additional radiation in my house? did you check the levels of it? would you compare it to additional cell phone? wireless dect phone?
How would you ensure the security and integrity of the information gathered from my meter?

KRichards

If someone took full advantage of the new smart meters by running high energy use appliances at off-peak times, etc. What would be the % they would like save off of their electric bill each month?

KRichards

During the installation are there any concerns about cutting of and then powering back on the electricity to individual homes and any deleterious effects this might on on household appliances?

KRichards

California placed a moratorium on new installations of these meters last year because of large numbers of complaints and problems.

“They have shorted out appliances, they’ve caught fre, they interfere with garage door openers or security systems.” said Mark Toney of the Utility Reform Network.

In California, six million smart meters have been installed in homes and complaints starting coming in almost immediately.

“The biggest problem that people are having with smart meters is complaints that billing they’re getting is dramatically higher than they’ve ever received before.” said Toney.

What about these types of issues?

drewdeck

Are the smart meters going to provide any additional functionality with regards to the net metering provision recently passed into law?

drewdeck

Does the programmable thermostat Westar is currently offering use the same web portal as the smart meter?

II

Will the new meters have a data port that homeowners can connect home network devices to?

Jobe

Gentlemen, what is the biggest benefit to customers concerning a transition to smart meters and a smart grid in general?

campbellinsurance

What benefit is it going to be getting a smart meter when at the same time Westar has applied to increase rates due to lower revenue from the Smart Meters?

KUHOOPS

Please outline your rollout plan for making these available to the rest of the city.

CrazyUkrainian1

Hello Mr Jensen,

I live in Trailridge Apartments, where the smart meters were first installed. I know first hand of the highly inefficient appliances, as well as AC and furnace in the townhomes, as well as extremely poor insulation in the walls which causes the furnace to kick on constantly. Is there a way to monitor energy waste and recommend energy savings ideas for the owners of the property? Obviously we as renters can only do so much to lower usage levels and can’t make improvements ourselves. I just hope there is some sort of communication going on between Westar and the owners so they can make the changes and improvements needed in the units, to make utilities more affordable for renters. Thank you.

skyking62

Is there software for my pc available in the metering process?

dateixeira

what is the level of granularity and how close to real-time will the data be available to home owners?

jrisley

Christine,

This is Jeff Risley from the Climate and Energy Project. Just tell Hal he’s doing a great job answering questions and providing great information. And thanks to the LJW for doing this live chat.

Jeff

Ami

I submitted a question earlier will it be answered?

jayhawkster

Mr. Jensen,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to concerns of the LJW readership and thanks to Christine for setting this up.

1. Though this program is voluntary, will the data that result from the Smartmeters help determine rates for everyone who doesn’t have a Smartmeter? If not in the near term, then when will that data inform rate increases?
2. What is the cost of the program to Westar for the meters and how do they plan on covering the cost of the new meters?
3. Why is Westar interested in delaying expansion or promoting conservation?
4. I’m guessing rate increases during peak hours – by how much? Will the rate increases impact public or commercial facilities with limited flexibility on shifting peak-use times?
5. How does Westar project energy use for areas that are growing or contracting?
6. How much is Westar projected to profit from the employment of Smartmeters in the next 5 years?

LogicMan

These smart-meters sound very interesting!

Two quick questions:

Will these meters be much more susceptible to damage from nearby or direct lightning strikes?

This first group of meters is to be installed “in Lawrence.” Does this mean only within Lawrence’s city limits, and not to any of the surroundings?

dontsheep

Greater education or awareness rarely leads to behavioral change. Diet and health is probably the best example. Adding calorie amounts or sugar/fat quantities doesn’t make the drive thru any less busy. So…since smart meters have been deployed in many other parts of the country, has the increased awareness for those customers resulted in less usage? If so, where and how much? And was it awareness or time of day pricing that led to the change?

dontsheep

What’s the plan if Lawrence’s installs go as poorly as PG&Es did?

Moderator

Hello everyone. This is Christine Metz, a reporter with the Lawrence Journal-World. Last week when I wrote about Westar Energy installing the first smart meters in Lawrence, we received a flood of questions online. So, we thought it would be a good idea to bring in Hal Jensen, director of the SmartStar program, to answer your questions directly.

Hal thanks for coming and get ready to start typing because we’ve received loads of questions today.

Hal Jensen

Hello, I’m Hal Jensen and am pleased to be here today to answer questions on the SmartStar project. Also with me is Matt Lehrman, part of our SmartStar project team.

Moderator

Well, let’s get started and I want to let readers know that we have quite a few duplicate questions. So, while Hal might not respond to your exact question, hopefully you’ll get the answer you are looking for.

DougCounty

I live in the county outside the city limits. Any way I can get one of the meters as part of this opening round? There are some energy savings ideas in my home that I’d love to try, and the Smart Meter would give me the monitoring tools I need to test them.

Hal Jensen

Thanks for your interest, the first group of meters will be within the City limits. We will look at that point to expand to some county locations but we don’t have where or when determined on that yet.

Moderator

We have quite a few folks interested in the smart meter installations that have gone poorly in California. Zstoltenberg post is the most detailed. So, I”m posting that one.

zstoltenberg

When examining the installations of SmartMeters in other locations, failure of the program seems to be a common theme. Individual and class action lawsuits have been filed against utilities in California and Texas, claiming that the meters aren’t reliable and have only produced mounting utility bills for customers. In California, the state Public Utilities Commission launched an investigation into the Pacific Gas & Electric Company after consumers in Bakersfield said that their utility bills shot up, at times over 300%, around the same time PG&E installed smart meters there.

PG&E, which supplies much of Northern California with natural gas and electricity, has denied any problems with the meters. But Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group in San Francisco, says his office receives 20 to 30 complaints about smart meters each week, most of them citing utility bills “mysteriously going up.”

In April, a state Senate hearing drove PG&E to release records showing that that there were indeed some problems associated with smart meters. What research has Westar done on these failed attempts and consumer backlash? How does Westar justify the invasion of privacy required as part of the government incentives they are receiving? (selling data about our usage habits) How would Westar handle a class action lawsuit in Lawrence?

Hal Jensen

We at Westar watch the trends and events in other locations on a continual basis and are well aware of the issues in California and Texas. The billing questions have been shown to be a result of changes in rate plans and lack of customer communication vs. meter accuracy. San Jose Mercury News reported in April that 8 of 5.5 million meters were found to be out of meter accuracy limits – there are similar test results from independent auditors in Texas where meters went in at a time of severe winter weather. A lot of the issues seem to revolve around poor customer communication and response as a primary cause. We are working very hard to be out in front of the community and responsive to questions on the project. Interestingly, there are some very successful smart meter projects in California where good communication has been in place, you can check out companies like SDG&E, SCE & SMUD to name a few. In regard to privacy, we will not be selling or sharing customer data on a personal, indentifiable basis.

Moderator

Thanks for such a detailed answer. I think that response brings us to the next set of questions many readers have. And, that’s how would/could smart meters change how I pay for electricity.

clarkentsman

Will Westar ever adjust rates during times of peak demand. Say on July 07 when it is 102 degrees and there is additional demand will rates increase. If so, for how long of periods? by the hour or half hour?

Or will they be like the older demand meters would calculate the peak 30 minute period in a month and home owner was charged per demand unit.

Hal Jensen

We hope to be offer some voluntary pilot rate programs via the SmartStar project. These types of rate programs would have varying prices, most likely at set times or at times announced ahead of time, that would more closely represent the cost of making electricity at a peak time. They also would offer lower cost (than the standard rate) at off peak times. We know these won’t work for everyone but as we look to the future we do hope to be able to offer customers more choice in how they purchase electricity e.g. you sign up for service and you pick what best fits your energy use. In SmartStar, we’ll offer some different pilot rate programs, again on a voluntary basis, which will help us figure out what works best and what doesn’t work for customer participation.

leonardpike

Thank you, Mr. Jensen for answering our questions. I was wondering whether the online system that indicates my home’s energy usage will also indicate the cost per killowatt hour? I am interested in the voluntary rate plans, but want to see the costs of peak usage (not just the usage) first. Thank you for your time.

Hal Jensen

The online account information that will be available with the smart meter installation will show use, cost and environmental impact on a bill to date, daily and hourly basis. For the rate plan options, you will know the cost ahead of time, they will not be variable real time type pricing. The design is still being determined but we envision a fixed rate time of use schedule (costs x cents from noon to 6pm) for starting this type of program.

jrk

What will smart metering mean to me and my bill? Will you change how you bill me when this new technology is installed?

Hal Jensen

Smart metering is most basically an upgrade to the technology that’s in place today. For you, there will be much more detailed information available to you on your energy use and it will be more timely, generally up to date to the day prior; it is not real time information. No one needs to do anything differently then they do today with a smart meter, but it does provide that option if people are interested. It also helps set the foundation from which we can offer more programs and services to customers in the future. Even if you aren’t interested in the new services, we will have better information to operate the electric system. The smart meters will help us know where power is out, and back on and other system operations information that will help us improve service quality and reliability.

hyperspaced

Mr. Jensen,
Do you have any information that you can share with us about how the installations will proceed from a geographical standpoint? Are you going to work from west to east or north to south, or start in the middle and work outward?

Hal Jensen

Not at this time. We’ll be determining that over the next several weeks and will be providing updates on our web site at westarenergy.com/smartstar. There’s a page with information on the installation process there and a map that we’ll update as soon as that information is available. At this time, we are almost complete with the pilot neighborhood meter exchange and plan to start the city wide in late May. You can also sign up for RSS feeds from the web page so you can stay updated as information is posted.

Moderator

Some folks want to know why there is a delay between the pilot program and when the rest of the city receives smart meters. Can you explain what all Westar Energy has to do between now and May?

Hal Jensen

We spent most of 2010 putting the technology in place to support the smart metering environment and online account information in place. This work still continues at this point and the pilot metering exchange provides us another layer of quality assurance prior to starting the rest. The pilot neighborhood is a little different then the rest in that they do not yet have the new online account page available. They will be the first. We’re timing the start of the rest of the meter exchanges to when we’ll have the new online information available with the meter installation – generally available by the next day – so that customers can start receiving some immediate benefit from the meter exchange.

mccgirl80

I remember getting something in the mail about Westar offering free programmable thermostats to customers. Are these the smart meters or is this something different?

Hal Jensen

That’s a different program available throughout most of the Westar territory called WattSaver. This is a voluntary program and has been well received by customers. Basically, you sign up,get a free programmable thermostat and agree that Westar can cycle your central air conditioner on peak days. There are limits on how many days this can occur and you have opt out options as well (in case you have a house full of guests). Generally, participants see very little change in comfort during cycling.
You can go to westarenergy.com for more information on the program.

KRichards

Would it be possible in the future to use the smart meter remotely (say from work) to turn on a clothers dryer. Or set automatic timers online to run the dishwasher at 2AM?

Hal Jensen

Not with the smart meter. There are a number of emerging consumer products that are focusing on these type of capabilities. Some areas to look for include residential home energy management systems and smart appliance development that is happening with the major manufacturers, like GE or Whirlpool. Not promoting but for interest you might also look at companies such as Control4 or the GE Nucleus product suites and there are many others.

hyperspaced

Mr. Jensen
What is Westar planning to do for those customers who do not have internet access to be able to access the information that will be available once their smart meter is installed? Is Westar planning to provide any type of device to these customers that would communicate with their smart meter and provide the same type of information as the website will?

Hal Jensen

We’re still sorting through some of that answer. I can tell you that our customer service representatives will be able to give you the information that’s on your account and we’re exploring ways to get this to non-internet customers in some kind of monthly summary report format. We don’t have that one worked completely out yet. You can also access the account from any internet connected location, such as the public library. We do not plan to provide an in home device to deliver the information.

Moderator

Several people want to know how smart meters will interact with other technology. For instant is it compatible with home energy management systems, solar panels and net metering?

Hal Jensen

The smart meters we’re installing do have the ZigBee SEP 1.0 communication protocol in them. That means they can communicate with compatible in home devices like some of those reference above. There are really no common standards in the space developed yet but a lot of activity. If you look at some of the products mentioned above it may be that at some point in the future you can buy home energy management tools in which you can set preferences based on pricing signals that would be received from a smart meter.

For solar, wind and other the smart meters do support net metering (selling back excess generation). One of the other benefits of smart grid development is that it better supports renewable energy sources.

demenocal

As smart metering involves data transfer between the end user and the utility, could you discuss information privacy and network security, especially in the context of potential for hacking?

Hal Jensen

We are very conscious and actively engaged in ensuring data/network privacy and security in the smart grid. We have recently posted a couple blog updates on both on the SmartStar web site. We have a IT security team at Westar that focuses on this full time, we participate in organizations that help keep us on top of emerging issues and we require all vendors we purchase from to fully meet or exceed all standards and other security requirements. This is an area that’s never complete of course and we continually upgrade our security measures.

Data Security Blog:
http://smartstarlawrence.com/2011/01/data-security

Data Privacy Blog:
http://smartstarlawrence.com/2010/12/data-privacy

Moderator

We’ve had several people ask questions related to how smart meters and energy conservation in general will impact Westar’s long term revenue. At the heart of their concern is if rates will eventually go up because people choose to use less energy?

Hal Jensen

Our longer term goal is to make people more aware of energy costs and how their use impacts those costs. Even with conservation electricity use continues to rise because we are adding new uses continually. So part of the answer is in how the growth occurs – on peak requiring new generation sooner or can we provide some tools that can help slow the peak load growth and delay new plant construction. Electric costs will continue to go up in the future. There are processes in place for Westar for cost recovery for expenditures on energy efficiency – this does not include SmartStar at this time. The approach is that over time cost increases for things like the smart grid are less then what new generation would be. Not that new plants won’t have to be built, but can we delay and make better utilization of what we have?

gudpoynt

Do you have any general advice for how customers might be able to use their new smart meters to save money on their energy bills?

Hal Jensen

Yes. The smart meters will provide you with an enhanced online account page for your electricity use. On this page you’ll be able to see up to date energy use, cost and environmental information based on your account. For efficiency measures, you can take a look at the daily or even hourly information and better see how and when you use electricity. That can help you identify potential areas to save. You can also track from a time that you’ve implemented some measure to determine if it’s having an impact. This information is in a whole house format but it still will provide insight to trends and changes. Additionally, look for other new programs, like the optional rate programs mentioned above, to be offered as we go forward. There may be opportunities to save money through those also. Smart meters provide a foundation from which new programs that can help customers save money can be launched.

Moderator

Unfortunately, we are out of time. If we didn’t get to your question, I’m sorry. But Hal and Matt said they would be back to answer more as we get closer to May when all homes and businesses in Lawrence will be upgraded to smart meters.

Hal and Matt thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions (and staying long past the one hour time slot). There’s a lot of really great information here that will help Lawrence residents navigate through the smart grid process.

And, readers thanks so much for submitting all your questions.

Hal Jensen

I’ll close out by saying thanks to all who joined in today, Great questions and I hope the answers were helpful. We’ll continue to provide regular updates to everyone through multiple places and we will be back for another online chat. Thanks again!