Smart meters, demand response exert growing impact in US

Demand response and advanced energy metering are spreading rapidly across the US, although both have some way to go before become standard features of the nation’s electricity system.

As of June 2011, 13.4 percent of electricity meters in the US — 9.7 million in all — featured advanced “smart” technologies, compared to 8.7 percent in 2009, according to the sixth annual update on demand response and advanced metering from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In fact, counting advanced meters that have been installed but not activated yet, the penetration of smart meters could be as high as 18 percent as of September of this year.

A large number of those advanced meters, around 7.2 million, were deployed thanks to 2009 federal stimulus funds. By the time stimulus-funded programs are completed, that figure is expected to reach 15.5 million.

The FERC report further cites projections from the Institute for Electric Efficiency indicating that, by 2015, the US will have some 65 million smart meters deployed.

“As advanced metering deployment continues and achieves greater penetration, issues associated with use of advanced metering and associated smart grid technologies have gained in importance,” the report notes. These issues include the development of interoperability standards, the development of state-based progress and performance metrics, the need to address concerns regarding privacy and security, and the need to address concerns by some customers about possible health impacts from meter-related radio frequency emissions.

“The radio frequency emissions associated with advanced metering have not been proven to present a risk to human health, but concerns about a possible linkage continue,” the report stated. To deal with that, it added, some utilities have offered customers the option of opting out of advanced meters.

Demand response programs have also increased significantly over the past two years, FERC reported. The potential nationwide capacity for demand response rose by 16 percent from 2009 (27,189 megawatts, or MW) to 2010 (31,702 MW).

Such demand response capabilities yielded noteworthy benefits over the past year, which was marked by numerous weather extremes that taxes local grids.

“Demand response resources have made significant contributions to balancing supply and demand during system emergencies for several RTOs (regional transmission organizations) and ISOs (independent system operators) in 2011,” the report stated. “For example, very hot weather during July 2011 in the Eastern US caused demand for electricity to approach record-setting levels. On July 21, the New York Independent System Operator (New York ISO) activated all of its registered demand response in the downstate region (more than 800 MW) and activated more than 2,000 MW of demand resources statewide the following day.”