More Technology Available in SDG&E Advanced-Meter Settlement

San Diego Gas & Electric agreed to a settlement over its advanced-metering plan that reduces its proposed costs. The deal, announced February 13 among the utility, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, and the Utility Consumers' Action Network, ends litigation over the program's rollout. The settlement limits advanced-metering project costs to $572 million. That is up from the utility's original plan, which estimated costs at $527 million. The costs, however, will be allocated less to residential and small commercial consumers and more to large users. It is also intended to include several technical functions not in the previous version of the program blueprint filed at the California Public Utilities Commission. UCAN called SDG&E's original plan "crushingly uneconomic and poorly designed," although the consumer group supports efforts to reduce peak load. The main technical changes to the utility's metering program include an electronic method of turning new customers' power on and off and forming a "home area network" so consumers can keep track of their energy use. In the future, according to SDG&E spokesperson Christy Heiser, the meter program should include the ability of the utility to tamp down a customer's use at crucial times if consumers sign up for voluntary reductions. The settlement also sets up a technology advisory panel, which will include staff from the California Energy Commission, industry experts, and customer representatives. The panel is supposed to advise SDG&E on best available practices in the advanced-metering world, including distribution automation, monitoring, and remote-disconnect wattage control. The CPUC is expected to vote on the settlement by early April. - J.A. Savage

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More Technology Available in SDG&E Advanced-Meter Settlement

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