530 Residents Sign Up For Smart Meters

The has signed up more than 500 residents to participate in a test this summer to see if higher rates will persuade Marbleheaders to use less electricity on very hot days.

“We have reached our intended goal of 500 participants for the pilot program, with approximately 530 sign-ups to date,” said Robert Jolly, general manager of the light department.

The next hurdle is installing the smart meters for the 500 test participants in time to begin the test in June. “I do not expect to see the meters until mid May, which puts us on a tight schedule for June 1,” Jolly said. But he believes his crews can make the deadline.

Funded by a $1.3 million matching U.S. Department of Energy grant, the EnergySense pilot program will be among the first of its kind in the region that reflects the actual cost of electricity delivery on critical peak days and offers customers price incentives to reduce household energy usage during specific peak periods.

Jolly views the EnergySense pilot program as a way for Marblehead customers to conserve energy and opt into lower-rate electric plans.

The pilot program is designed to reduce Marblehead’s electric demand during 12 summer weekdays when the most energy is being consumed. These “critical peak” days are typically driven by increased use of air conditioning systems. The total energy demand for Marblehead on these days can be as high as 28,000 kilowatts, which is more than 85 percent higher than the average daily demand.

The light department, like most electric utilities, buys energy at higher costs during these peak demand days, which results in higher energy costs for all customers. By purchasing less energy at these high rates on peak demand days, Marblehead can cut its energy costs and share the savings with its customers. Jolly said.

The pilot program will run for three months during this summer and continue through next summer. Participating households will get a reduced electric rate during the summers of 2011 or 2012. During the testing period, participants will pay a lower electric rate of about 9 cents per kilowatt hour for 97 percent of the time, versus the estimated 14 cent standard rate.

To encourage the test households to reduce electricity consumption on peak days, the electric rate for the remaining 12 critical peak days will be $1.05 per kilowatt hour.

Customers who reduce electricity usage during a critical peak day should realize bill savings, Jolly said. But no customer will pay more than they would have on the standard rate.

Peak periods are between noon and 6 p.m. on 12 non-holiday weekdays during the summer.

Fiber Extension Installations Begins

The light department has also started to extend the town's fiber optic cable network that will link the elementary schools and other town facilities, giving them a faster Internet connection.

Currently the elementary schools use the Comcast network to access the Internet. Tying into the town's fiber optic network will give the elementary schools a better Internet connection, Kathy Comeau, the school system's technology director, said earlier.

“It is a good thing,” she said.

Jolly has said the fiber optic cable will be needed by the EnergySense program to relay data to the department's headquarters. The meters will use wireless technology to send data a relatively short distance, where it will be collected and forwarded to a main computer for the light department.

The extension of the fiber optic network will cost between $50,000 and $100,000, Jolly said. Half of that cost will be funded as part of a $1.3 million matching U.S. Department of Energy grant.