Portion of an article from "California Energy Markets" describes CPUC metering rules. Note that most customers (aside from large commercial sites) can delay getting hourly meters until 1999.
"Under CPUC rules, all customers that take direct-access service must eventually install hourly interval meters--meters that can read and store electric consumption data over time periods not greater than one hour. Residential and small commercial customers may not have such meters in place until 1999, and the commission more recently allowed mid-sized commercial customers--those with average monthly demand between 20 KW and 50 KW--to use load profiling instead of hourly meters during 1998. "
"That leaves roughly 1 million commercial meter sites around the state that are potentially available for 1998 upgrades to new devices or for adopting to remote meter reading networks. Many of these largest customers already have time-of-use meters that are considered compatible with direct access, but these devices are owned by the utilities. If they want to install new meters, customers will have to foot the bill or make arrangements with their ESP to arrange for installation and pay for the change. "
"Aside from the utility distribution companies (UDCs), which were granted " grandfathered status" as metering installers by the CPUC, any company that plans to install these new meters must first obtain certification as a Metering Service Provider (MSP). According to Steve Roscow of the CPUC's new meter certification unit, requirements for MSPs include holding an electrical contractor's license, posting a $500,000 bond to cover damages or losses, and providing the CPUC with a description of the background and training materials used for installers. "
"So far, only metering vendor Schlumberger has applied to become an MSP, according to Roscow. The company is offering a new device, called the Vectron SVX meter, which connects to centralized reading services via telephone. Schlumberger said its new device will report power consumption hourly as well as automatically report outages, voltage fluctuations and other energy flow discrepancies. " |
