By Kristy Moffitt
It is a “virtual certainty” that Ottawa renters will be paying more for hydro once the new smart meters are installed in April 2006 says Tom Adams, executive director of the watchdog organization Energy Probe.
The smart meters will record power consumption by the hour and charge more for electricity used during peak periods. For example, it will cost more to use electricity during the dinner hour or on hot summer days.
Electricity used during off-peak hours will cost less than electricity during peak hours.
“For renters or people who live in condos, who are modest users of electricity, there is going to be an increase in cost,” says Adams. He has been involved in the smart meters proposal from its beginning.
In apartments without their own individual meters, the smart meters will address only the bulk meter of the building. In other words, renters will be charged for energy consumption according to what the entire building uses, instead of what they use themselves.
“Bulk metering is an extremely wasteful practice in general. It raises costs for tenants,” says Adams.
Sherry Lacey is a Centretown resident who lives in an apartment building that uses bulk meters.
She is not impressed with the thought of any kind of increase in her hydro bill that is not based on her own usage.
“I understand that conservation is important, but how is this helping?” she says.
Hydro users in Ottawa will be among the first in the province to have the smart meters installed, along with Toronto, London, Hamilton, and Mississauga.
Paul Crawford, a spokesperson from the Ontario Energy Board, says these particular cities were chosen because they had the biggest resource bases.
“Cities of 100,000 people or more were our jumping-off point because they already have the resources in place. This is the most cost-effective way.”
Crawford says energy conservation is the main reason for the implementation of smart meters, but not the only reason.
“The other side is that the government wants to ensure consumers are paying for the true cost of electricity.”
Adams says smart meters will give the government better tools to encourage conservation in the long term, but the short-term results will be minimal.
“There is no point in installing smart meters while we have these stupid electricity prices. The benefits won’t be seen until costs reflect real market scarcity of electricity,” he says.
This means that electricity prices would have to increase to their real market value.
Consumers will begin paying for the meters as soon as they’re installed.
The estimated cost of installation will be $3 to $4 per month for every customer, for a total of $1 billion across the province.
The Energy Board looked into other places where smart meters have already been implemented, such as California, Italy and Australia.
Crawford says they took the lessons learned from these jurisdictions when developing a plan for Ontario.
The plan is to have smart meters installed everywhere by 2010. “As of now, it is just a proposal. Now it’s in the hands of the Ministry of Energy,” says Crawford.