One million smart meters installed

Milestones are important. 

They’re indications of progress, and a way of gauging the strength of social trends. So it’s very much a big deal that Hydro One and Hydro One Brampton recently announced they’ve installed 1,000,000 smart meters. 

Why is that a big deal?  Smart meters are incredibly effective energy savers. When used in a jurisdiction with time-of-use pricing, the financial incentive to shift some electricity usage to off-peak time has effectively reduced overall use. 

That’s why Ontario’s provincial government announced its intention to install smart meters in every home and small business in the province. That announcement was made in 2006. Do the math – that’s a rate of around 300,000 meters per year installed since then. 

Why the rush? Hydro One, the largest utility in the province, intends to adopt time-of-use pricing in 2010. That date still has a far-off sound to it, but it bears repeating that’s just next year. Time-of-use pricing is effective in reducing energy use, but only when customers have access to smart meters.

The rush will continue. Another 400,000 more Hydro One customers have made appointments to have smart meters installed. Once the province is effectively converted to the new technology, there will be a host of “spinoff” benefits. 

Smart meters will eliminate the need to estimate bills – on average, most meters are physically read only every two or three months, sometimes creating surprisingly large bills. 

Not having to read bills will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as meter readers will no longer have to criss-cross the province. Ontario’s a big province. Those criss-crossing trips add up.   

Indeed, it seems smart meters are the smart choice for managing energy use.