AMI or TMI?

As Advanced Metering Infrastructure progresses, many are concerned about the data gathered by smart meters.  Is it too much information?  What the regulations are there to protect the data and if the information will be shared with a third party should the utility be compensated?  Some of these questions have yet to be answered.

Utilities, however, are embracing smart meters in hopes of increasing efficiency and providing customers with details about their energy consumption.  As of late last year, more than 111 million households and businesses have AMI or smart meters.

“The smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure are delivering benefits not only for ComEd customers but for other Illinois utilities and we’re eager to demonstrate the value of these investments to the customers we share with Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas,” said Terence Donnelly, president and COO at ComEd.  WEC Energy Group subsidiaries, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, are partnering with ComEd to use its Itron AMI network and support smart technology.  The three utilities operate in Illinois, and will share the same network infrastructure across common service territories.

Convinced it provides benefits, Torrence Hinton, president at Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas said, “Using AMI will reduce costs for customers and enhance our level of service.”  In the coming years Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas will upgrade 1 million endpoints to make them compatible with the ComEd IIoT network.  New Jersey is also studying how to set data-gathering rules to ensure MAI helps ratepayers cut cost but not at the expense of their privacy. 

In lieu of privacy concerns, the DOE is diligently trying to keep pace with new technologies and how they can be used.  AMI-SEC Task Force considered HAN use cases in the development of a document that may calm the fears of consumers.  In the document Risk Assessment, System Requirements and an Implementation Guide will address the need for stricter procedures as more smart meters replace traditional ones.  Utilities are tasked to ‘provide evidence the assurance of justifiable confidence (i.e., trust) in the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of Smart Grid services. (For example, provide evidence to support public trust in the accuracy of billing statements, the safety and reliability of electricity services, and the fairness of energy markets.)’ Smart Grid services promise to provide automation, situational awareness, control of generation, transmission, distribution and use of electric power.’  Does the burden fall on your utility to proof the benefit?  How are utilities assuring customers that their information is well protected and gathered solely for the benefit of serving them better?