BC Hydro<\/a> smart meter at his Shellmont home.<\/p>\nOn Aug. 5, a contractor from Corix Utilities arrived at Jack Rochfort\u2019s home to install a new meter as part of BC Hydro\u2019s province-wide smart meter replacement program.\u00a0Rochfort said his 10-year-old refrigerator was working fine that morning\u2014until the power went out.<\/p>\n
Unaware his mechanical meter was being replaced, Rochfort thought little of a brief power outage, noticing electricity was restored to his home within a few minutes. It was then his refrigerator began making noise.<\/p>\n
He called a repairman, who, after charging $76.16 for the service call, suggested a power surge could have caused his refrigerator\u2019s compressor to fail.<\/p>\n
Rochfort bought a new fridge for $711, and appealed to Corix. But the company couriered him a letter dated Aug. 18 that denied responsibility for the failure of his appliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorix followed all company safety and installation procedures,\u201d wrote Jennifer Toledo, an insurance administrator with Corix.<\/p>\n
Rochfort, a retired truck driver who has lived in the same home since it was built in 1969, said he was notified about the installation about two weeks before it happened, but wasn\u2019t aware the contractor had arrived on the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should be notifying people before they do this,\u201d he said. \u201cThey should know that with older equipment, a power surge will take it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richmond is one of the first cities to get smart meters\u2014digital devices that can capture and record the amount of power that is consumed in a given period. BC Hydro aims to have 1.8 million smart meters installed in homes and businesses throughout the province by the end of 2012.<\/p>\n
A form letter from the utility notifying residents about the pending installation says installers will knock at the front door of a home before starting work and power will be knocked out for one minute during the installation.<\/p>\n
It suggests that homeowners ensure a backup power supply is available for critical equipment that requires constant power. The letter also warns a home security system may be triggered in the event of a power outage.<\/p>\n
Rochfort called the process \u201cheavy handed,\u201d insisting contractors should have to get permission from property owners before replacing meters.<\/p>\n
But the chief project officer of BC Hydro\u2019s smart metering project said it\u2019s \u201chighly improbable\u201d meter replacement could cause appliances to fail. Gary Murphy said appliances are designed to withstand simple power interruptions, such as those caused by storms. Replacing a meter is no different.<\/p>\n
\u201cOld appliances or new appliances have an extremely low probability of having anything go wrong. It\u2019s like unplugging your refrigerator and plugging it back in. If there\u2019s difficulty with that, then the customer ought to be concerned and probably replace the refrigerator,\u201d said Murphy, who has worked on such projects throughout North America.<\/p>\n
Murphy said customers have the right to appeal to BC Hydro if they\u2019re not satisfied with a response from Corix. BC Hydro would then investigate the claim.<\/p>\n
Installation contractors are not certified electricians, but Murphy said they needn\u2019t be. The replacement process, he noted, is as simple as removing a plug from a receptacle.<\/p>\n
Nearly 10,000 meters have been installed in Richmond so far\u2014about one-tenth of BC Hydro\u2019s Richmond-Delta billing area. Crews are also now working in Terrace, Prince George and Victoria. Contractors have the legal right to enter private property to service meters under the Electric Tariff.<\/p>\n
Murphy said BC Hydro\u2019s method of communicating with customers regarding meter replacement\u2014involving newspaper advertising and letters sent by mail\u2014is \u201cone of the best practices we\u2019ve learned from numerous utilities, some of which don\u2019t contact customers at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fairly standard business practice for us to replace meters, and it\u2019s quite complex and costly and time-consuming and frankly not cost-effective to schedule appointments with customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The smart meter program will ultimately benefit BC Hydro customers, said Murphy, noting the utility will realize $520 million in net benefits in the program\u2019s 20-year cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have rate pressures to go up; we have to upgrade our infrastructure. But smart meters is one thing BC Hydro is doing to minimize those rate pressure increases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smart meters will also provide customers with information about their own energy use, offering further potential savings.<\/p>\n
The Richmond Review<\/em> asked the BC Safety Authority about necessary qualifications for meter replacement contractors. Spokesperson Ariela Friedmann said only \u201ctrained individuals\u201d should do the work\u2014but not necessarily electricians. She also said a power surge caused by the installation of a new meter is unlikely.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s highly unlikely because the removal and installation involves opening and closing a circuit\u2014much like using a switch. It doesn\u2019t generate voltage on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, B.C. privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham is investigating the smart meter program to ensure it complies with privacy law. The investigation will include the collection, use, disclosure, retention and security of personal information.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.bclocalnews.com\/richmond_southdelta\/richmondreview\/news\/128323478.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richmond Review – News Shellmont resident Jack Rochfort was forced to buy a new refrigerator after his blew following the installation of a smart meter at his 42-year-old Richmond home. Matthew Hoekstra photo By Matthew Hoekstra – Richmond Review Published: August 24, 2011 10:00 AM Updated: August 24, 2011 4:39 PM An 81-year-old Richmond man […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,125,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bchydro","category-damage","category-smart-meter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3538,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions\/3538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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