On Thursday, November 6 the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) General Manager J. Peter Lark announced the launch of the community smart grid pilot project.
Beginning on November 20 with the Bailey neighborhood in East Lansing, the BWL will install 140 smart meters in homes. They decided to start the pilot in this neighborhood because, according to Amy Akers of the BWL, “There are a lot of students there. We will be able to test the features that allow us to turn the features on and off remotely.”
The hope is that meter readers will no longer need to be sent to homes. Residents will be able to get an energy reading every fifteen minutes and see exactly where energy is being used. “They can see where their money is being spent and why their bill is what is,” says Akers. The meters will also instantly inform the BWL when and where the power goes out instead of waiting for a call. They will then be able to dispatch someone immediately.
“It’s something people have wanted,” says Akers. There will be no charge to those having meters installed now. This pilot phase is simply to see how customers feel about the meters.
Source: Amy Akers, The Lansing Board of Water and Light
Author: Allison Monroe, Innovation News Editor
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