VICTORIA– BC Hydro has installed 93 per cent or 1.73 million of 1.87 million smart
meters. To ensure the final seven per cent of smart meters can be installed,
the Province is extending the deadline under the Clean Energy Act from Dec. 31,
2012, to Dec. 31, 2013.
Shortages
in qualified labour, equipment and specialized meters, plus customer concerns,
prevented BC Hydro from fully installing all smart meters in 2012. The
additional time will enable BC Hydro to complete the work and address as many
customer concerns as possible before finalizing smart meter installations. Smart
meters are expected to pay for themselves by delivering $1.6 billion in benefits
over 20 years. These are savings that BC Hydro will not have to collect from
customers. Research
has shown that some of the new tools available through smart meters will enable
customers to conserve up to 15 per cent in energy costs. Smart meters will make
possible new conservation tools like secure online customer accounts and
optional in-home devices that will provide homeowners with up-to-date
information about power use.Once
smart meters are fully installed and operational, they will also let BC Hydro
know of an outage immediately, so power can be restored faster.
No comments:
Post a Comment