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.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address): November 11, 2009

PG&E Sued Over Smart Meters, Slows Down Bakersfield Deployment

Pacific Gas & Electric denies a lawsuit’s claims that smart meters are overcharging customers in Bakersfield. Still, it has slowed down smart meter deployments in the city.

When in doubt, sue – and slow down.

Pacific Gas & Electric has "paused" installing smart meters in the Bakersfield area because of complaints from residents that their new Pacific Gas & Electric smart meters are overcharging them. PG&E denies the allegations, noting that the rise in electricity bills some customers have seen come from other factors, such as regulator-approved rate hikes and air conditioning spikes during heat waves. Nonetheless, it has put a halt on new meters for now, utility spokesman Paul Moreno said Tuesday.

Complaints for power have now taken the form of a lawsuit.

Pete Flores, of Bakersfield, claims in the suit filed last week in Kern County Superior Court that ever since PG&E installed a smart meter at his home, he's been charged for more electricity than he has used. Right now Flores – who says his average bill as jumped from about $200 a month to about $500 to $600 a month since he got a smart meter – is the only named plaintiff.

But his attorney, Michael Louis Kelly of the El Segundo, Calif.-based law firm Kirtland & Packard, is seeking class action status for the lawsuit to include every PG&E customer who has a smart meter and thinks they've been overcharged, saying the utility needs to prove that those two-way communicating meters aren't the cause.

"PG&E's taking a position that nothing's wrong, yet there are thousands and thousands of people saying there is," Kelly said Tuesday.

PG&E has maintained from the beginning that its meters have proven to be accurate in multiple tests, from the factory floor to in the field. The utility points to several electricity rate hikes in the previous year, as well as hot weather that likely caused people to use more power to run air conditioners, as the likely causes of the increases (see Green Light post).

"The allegations in the lawsuit are untrue and have no merit," said utility spokesman Denny Boyles in an official statement. "PG&E's and manufacturers' quality assurance processes show the meters are accurate and are performing well."

PG&E's $2.2 billion, 10-million smart meter deployment continues apace in other regions, Moreno noted. That rollout is now hitting about 12,000 to 15,000 meters per day, or one every two seconds, Andrew Tang, PG&E's director of smart energy web, said last week (see Smart Grid's Low-Tech Savings: Fewer Truck Rolls).

Still, the tempest in Bakersfield underscores the public challenges utilities may face as they deploy smart grid systems such as smart meters. Utilities need approval from state regulators to increase their electricity rates to pay for the cost of such projects. Claims that the equipment is malfunctioning, whether true or false, could complicate that process.

As for the lawsuit, it isn't limiting its sights to PG&E. Other defendants named in the complaint include Wellington Energy Inc., the installer of the meters, as well as "DOE Defendants 1-100," or any company that might have played any role in the utility's smart meter deployment, from wireless communications to back-end software, as well as unspecified roles.

Kelly said his law firm has been contacted by hundreds of people who have PG&E smart meters that have complaints about their power bills. That's in line with numbers of Bakersfield residents who have brought similar complaints to California State Sen. Dean Florez, who brought the issue to public attention last month.

Florez (no relation to plaintiff Pete Flores) asked the California Public Utilities Commission to force PG&E to halt its smart meter deployment. The CPUC didn't do that, but it did order the utility to find a third party expert to "test and validate meter and billing accuracy" in Bakersfield.

PG&E, for its part, sees smart meters as giving customers more insight into their power bills, and thus helping them save energy, Boyles noted. Right now customers can go outside and see their current usage on a digital readout, he said.

In the future, of course, PG&E and many other utilities deploying smart meters want to link them to energy control systems in customers' homes and businesses. That could offer far greater energy savings, including automated  

PG&E is deploying smart meters made by General Electric and Landis+Gyr and networked by Silver Spring Networks. It is also replacing some previously deployed meters, which include meters deployed in Bakersfield in 2007 that used technology from Distribution Control Systems Inc.

Switzerland-based Landis+Gyr issued a statement Tuesday saying that it has installed about 300 million meters – and about 1.5 million remote-connect smart meters to utility customers throughout North America.

"No issues regarding design, quality, accuracy or functionality have been reported by any customer," Stan March, senior vice president of corporate communications, said in a prepared statement.

39 Comments

  • Kevin 11/11/09 4:58 AM

    A significant part of smart meter cost justification for utilities is the fact that the additional data available to them will enable them to change the billing rate structure to include Time of Use billing (much like a cell phone). The question is whether or when will the utilities have the gumption to change residential consumer rates from flat rates to TOU rates and face the wrath of the millions of consumers that will inevitably end up with higher bills until they shift energy consumption to off peak rate hours. I understand the few ways I could accomplish that in my home would be to use the delay function on my dishwasher to ensure it only starts late at night and by limiting laundry washing and drying to Sundays. While this approach will reduce my TOU bill, depending on the TOU rates and the difference in rates between the high and low time zones, this may or may not result in a lower bill than prior to the TOU rate. 
    The article does not specify whether TOU rates have been implemented so I assume not.  This leaves me wondering whether these consumers have had a demand charged added to their rate structure, or if one existed before, whether the algorithm to calculate the demand charge has been modified and applied when these smart meters were deployed. Alternatively from a pure mathematical perspective, even without changing the rate or algorithm, the granularity of the data available from smart meters could result in a change in the bill - in favor of the utility.

    Reply
      • Scott 11/20/09 8:31 AM

        Interesting point you make. So if a motor cycles on and off and is not soft start the spike in amperage on startup is recorded and charged at a higher rate for that instant? So standard meters are not capable of recording this spike, only the increased usage for the run time of the motor?  If true it would be in the utilities favor but it also leads to some interesting ways to lower your bill.

  • Walter Yu, P.E., LEED AP 11/11/09 10:59 AM

    Interesting article, and it may be worth noting that the smart-grid meter roll-out is occurring in regions outside of Bakersfield so other factors may be the reason for why residents there are experiencing higher energy bills.

    Reply
  • Ivan Bishop 11/17/09 5:58 PM

    Seems to me PGE and the CPUC bulldozed it through as usual.
    Heres a better idea.
    1 in TEN customers who gets a so called smart meter, ALSO gets a BRAND NEW old fashioned reliable meter installed in-line AT THE SAME time. Lets see if the meters agree.

    Its clearly a way of screwing customers, forget all the so called green issues.

    Reply
  • Dr. No 11/20/09 4:31 PM

    The incentive for PG&E to do smart meters is a different and very tangible one:
    http://www.silverspringnet.com/solutions/credit_collections.html
    Using smart meters they can turn on and off the electricity if you did not pay and they can enhance collections. They can reduce the A/R time all of which is more money fatser for them (yes I know it is owed to them). Reducing A/R time is a very bottom line oriented approach and has nothing to do with the eco-sauce poured over it.

    Reply
  • JoeJoe 11/20/09 9:45 PM

    Dr. No… The biggest single benefit to the utility seems to be the elimination of meter readers. See page 16.

    http://www.edisonfoundation.net/iee/reports/deciding_on_smart_meters.pdf

    I don’t think the economic arguments of Borenstein et al. are eco-sauce. Time sensitive (i.e. demand sensitive) airline and phone rates are familiar pricing models. In a land so proud of capitalism there sure is a disconnect when it comes to rational electricity pricing.

    I’m going to have to go with the NEW FANGLED solid state meters over the BRAND NEW old fashioned induction meters. I’m pretty sure the solid state meters are an order of magnitude more accurate and reliable that the spinning disc models.

    Reply
      • mike 04/2/10 9:10 AM

        Joe Joe, when your bill tripples then what.

  • Marla 01/27/10 3:00 PM

    PG&E is not aware of the utility fraud operation taking place with THEIR meters, electrical equipment, utility poles or the connecting rewiring without authorization, permits, inspections or safety precautions.  Because records are being altered to cover up the evidence.  As long as the office personnel continue to support altered records, there is no help.  Various people behind this also mention citywide utility theft - unfortunately, disclosure laws prohibit PG&E from verifying that.  Perhaps it is time disclosure laws are set aside since this affects the welfare and safety of the public.  <a >CLICK: Central Valley Utiliity Fraud Cover-Up</a>

    Reply
  • Josh 02/7/10 5:55 PM

    I am in Texas and have read this and am very interested.  They are doing this now in Central Texas and we have seen bills go from $78 to $400+ the first month.  They have a lot of BS they give us about this and that and too many xmas lights and the such but in the end we all feel it is the new smart meters.  Our providers have met with groups of consumers and insulted us for an hour or two during those meetings then ran out the back door when they realized we weren’t going to accept their line of BS.  Good luck, the rest of the country will be watching.

    Reply
  • Pablo L 02/20/10 12:20 AM

    I live in Central California, about 100 miles north of Bakersfield.  We have about the same weather as Bakersfield.  I had a TOU meter that was less than 4 years old and still experienced an increase in my power consumption after the installation of the smartmeter.  PG&E claims it is the weather.  Without an inline meter of our own, we will never be able to prove PG&E is at fault.  I do find it interesting that if I installed solar, they would change out my smart meter for the older style meter.  Their claim is the smart meter will not work with solar.  I suspect, it has more to do with how hte smart meter works.  If you had the smart meter and solar, they just might have to pay for more power than I actually generated.  I do not know if you know, but the california Legislature passed a law that allowed your community to participate in a program called “Community Choice Aggregation” (AB 117).  Under that program your City Council or your County Board of Supervisors could vote to participate in this program.  It would allow YOU the opportunity to tell PG&E to take a hike and use another energy provider.  PG&E has vowed, that it will not allow any community or county inside its distribution area to vote for this proposal, in spite of that the State legislature said.  The CA PUC caught PG&E red handed trying to strong arm cities into voting against the program and its respnse was you can nto tell us what not to say, as we are covered under the Fisrt Amendment free speech clause.  So they are telling the PUC, their First Amendment right allows them to Lie to the consumer, the City or County to get what they want, total domination of the energy elivery in ther distribution area.  Does this sound like a Utility that put Smart meters in for “OUR” benefit?  I guess if they feel they can Lie to the Public or to their Customers as free speach, can we beliewve anything they say about smartmeters.  Source for this comment is PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA I.D.# 8768, ENERGY DIVISION RESOLUTION E-4250, January 21, 2010
    R E S O L U T I O N

    Look it up,

    Reply
  • Cody B 03/5/10 7:06 PM

    As someone who knows a great deal about electrical usage within a home or business I too smell a rat.  The month the smart meter was installed at my brand new “Green Home” my bill has skyrocketed.  Here is the problem inherent with the “SmartMeter”...there is no way for an individual to check actual useage for themselves.  Here is an example of what I mean.  If in my job I received a call from a customer that was experiencing unusally high electric bills I could go to their residence or business and by using the meter and a stop watch I could tell the owner exactly how many KW’s each appliace was using.  With the SmartMeter there is no way of detailing this.  Absolutely no way.  At this point if a customer of mine has a SmartMeter installed I have to tell them to contact PG%E and complain.  I have complained to both PG&E and GE (the maker of most SmartMeters) with no results.  In the end I believe that PG&E is not going to do much about this.  They’re now doing a study to verify the accuracy of this product.  I think we all know what they’ll find.  If they find they are off they will bury the findings.  Imagine the amount of money in bill adjustments they’d end up having to poney up.  Can anyone say 10 figures.

    Reply
      • Amy 03/18/10 9:04 PM

        Since it was installed, I too noticed the bill has doubled and my parents who live next door, their bill has tripled in price. I called PG&E to find out why this was happening and I explained that we have been doing nothing different that we have not done before, and I told her we are all on a fixed income. The rep’s reply was ” go to walmart and buy an electric blanket.” I can’t believe the responses they have been giving us and other customers in our area. We cannot afford a bill this high, and I hope that this matter is investigated and that something is done about it. The smart meter is a rip off if you ask me. Im dissapointed and upset.

  • JoeJoe 03/18/10 11:18 PM

    This story bugs me - like, I’m itching and stuff. Technology bad… Grrr… One tenth of one percent of smart meter customers are reporting problems. This is a third of the regular rate.

    To me, the real tragedy of smart meters is the loss of the meter reader. I have spent many a night shift listening to stories of ex-meter readers and the things they ran into during their rounds. From punting wannabe purse sized attack dogs to nude sun-bather surprises… What a gold mine of adventure that job brings - they could’ve had their own reality show had the timing been different. I guess it must have been so with milk men as well. Hmmm…

    I know it’s hot in the Bakersfield and Fresno… Electricity bills in the 400s and up are not new. Blame the Sun and your choice of settlement. It seems strange that I’ve read no complaints from your neighbors in the Five Cities and SLO. Do they have the meters yet? Hmmm…

    Reply
  • bRad 03/24/10 12:18 PM

    I have no air conditioning, haven’t turned on the furnace in two years, gas dryer, use the oven once a week, wash two loads of clothes a week, gas hot water, new really efficient refridgerator, a computer that runs 24/7 and a monitor 16h/day, all my lightbulbs are flourescents.  SDG&E says my electric is 100-120 a month.  I asked them to send someone out to check why my bill went to almost half when the downstairs condo was empty for two months and lost a half-day of work waiting for someone - eventually I called and asked why they never appeared and was told they had already been out and “read the meter”.

    I’ve been systematically working through electrical items with a time/usage meter and cannot find the electrical use, or why my electric use would vary over 100kwh a month.  SDG&E’s website has tools that estimate what is using electricity and their algorithms cannot find over 1/3 of the usage, it’s “unknown”.

    And yes, they have informed me I will be getting a smart reader soon.  Joy.

    Reply
  • Don B 06/11/10 10:14 PM

    Hmmm… you don’t suppose that the Smart meters were configured to produce a higher revenue flow to pay for the $46 MILLION dollars spent on the anti-competition pro-monopoly Prop 16.  Clearly, an abuse of power and abuse of public trust!

    Reply
  • C.Rosa 06/28/10 8:38 PM

    For those who doubt the technology is faulty and blame it on us, the “non-adopters” of modern techonology, I am a net energy producer from solar for 10 years.  I recently had a smart meter installed for gas.  We went away for a month.  The house was “shut down”.  Our latest gas bill indicates a HIGHER gas use than when we were home!  Try explain that.  I have no problem with trying to reduce our use of energy but at what cost?  Cheating consumers?  I encourage everyone to write to the CPUC and the Attorney General’s office to put a moratorium on these meters until it proven 99% reliable.

    Reply
  • judy 07/22/10 3:16 PM

    Since pg and e is saving a LOT of money on gasoline, vehicles/maintenance why aren’t they passing the savings to the consumer.  In other words PG and E was charging what they supposedly had to charge for all costs to run the trucks/gasoline/tires etc. because they had to have employees run all over the place to read meters, now that the smart meter is installed, PG and E has substantially reduced their overhead, why then are we still paying such high rates for electricity, my house as we speak is around 82 degrees…I can’t afford the pg and e bill, why isn’t the savings passed to us?

    Reply
  • fenglingling 08/3/10 9:04 PM

    told reporters today on a conference call. Once drilling mud overpowers pressure coming up from oil and gas in the reservoir, the company may use cement to plug the well from the top.
    http://www.eluxurysall.com/

    tatic kill will make it safer to permanently plug Macondo from below through a nearby relief well later this month. BP has started installing casing in the relief well to protect the borehole from being damaged during the static kill and to prepare for injecting mud
    http://www.uggs-hot-boots.com/uk/index.html
    cement for final plugging, according to a company statement today
    told reporters today on a conference call. Once drilling mud overpowers pressure coming up
    The static kill will make it safer to permanently plug Macondo from below through a nearby
    http://www.cheapghdshair.net/
    relief well later this month. BP has started installing casing in the relief well to protect the borehole from being damaged during the static kill and to prepare for injecting mud and cement for final plugging, according to a company statement today.

    Reply
  • lbm0914 08/25/10 3:39 AM

    hey,this is one of the best posts that I’ve ever seen; you may include some more ideas in the same theme. I’m still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in your next post.
    This story bugs me - like, I’m itching and stuff. Technology bad… Grrr… One tenth of one percent of smart meter customers are reporting problems. This is a third of the regular rate.
    http://www.louisvuittonbagmall.com Louis vuitton

    Reply
  • Donna 12/15/10 2:44 PM

    Tell PGE to stop smart meter from installing.

    Reply
  • trefeania 06/5/11 8:10 PM

    Mould occasional days i initiate in internet definitely genial shop with quilts. What do you characterize as around this <a >koldry</a> shop? I would like to buy there some products but i`m not convinced if they`re ok. I heared that single being leave fake quilt and wasn`t ok. Peradventure you can make known me what do you invent on every side it?

    Reply
  • EarthScope 08/8/11 4:30 PM

    see SmartMeterDangers.org and put smart meter problems in your search engine - see MagdaHavas.com and .org for Smart Meter info from MAGDA HAVAS,  Ph.D. in Ontario at Trent University.
    See video of Rob Gates, PE,  - The Dark SIde of ‘Smart’ Meters on you tube.
    See Dr. Karl Maret - Canadian born MD and scientist http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/?p=368 for his response to the Calif. Council on Science and Technology re HEALTH EFFECTS.
    ALSO see him at 23:23 at Santa Cruz, CA, smart meter forum - he cites numerous M.D.s re DNA effects of RF/MW - radio frequency/microwave of smart meters, WIFI, baby monitors, cell phones, etc - NON IONIZING radiation whose effects are cumulative and that we in the US do not regard as vital.  We are asleep at the wheel about effects on bodily tissue - W.H.O. recently called cell phones potentially carcinogenic.

    Reply
  • mofles 09/7/11 3:48 PM

    i live in bakesfield and the last two monts my pg&e bill came out 1,200 and i have call pg&e and i neve get the raight answer so please any help

    Reply
      • Bob Wallace 09/7/11 4:03 PM

        If you’re spending that kind of money to keep cool down there in the toe end of the valley then I’d think the best help would be:

        1) Get someone to check out your house to see if more insulation or window coverings would help.

        2) Get your AC system checked.  Could be anything from a dirty filter to a duct that has become unsealed.

        3) Get some solar panels on your house.

        I recently read an interview with a guy in Arizona who put a bunch of panels on his house for $10,000 and ever since his monthly bill has been $15.  If you’re spending that much money for electricity, then solar might be a great investment for you.

        4) If you really think your electricity meter is faulty and you aren’t getting proper attention from customer service, call back and ask to talk to someone in management.  If that doesn’t work, send them a registered letter (and keep a copy for your records). 

        You might ask around to people who live in houses similar to yours and see what they’ve been paying.  Remember, a lot of the problems when the new meters were first rolled out were not meter problems.  It was that they were installed early in a heat wave and people were looking for a problem.

        It might be that you think PG&E is giving you the correct answer, but it’s not the answer you want to hear.

  • Marcella 11/16/11 2:29 PM

    OMG….we just started getting the the print outs from PG&E from the smart meter…...my bill has doubled!!!!!!.....Nothing in the house has changed!!!!! What the heck am I supposed to do? How does this happen? We’ve used the heater a couple times, but compared to the years before, even dead of winter when it’s on all the time, it’s never even been close to this high.

    Reply
  • dantheguitargod 12/3/11 11:28 PM

    Hey PGE: why is there a HUGE energy usage spike at MIDNIGHT when I am sleeping?  Apparently I walk in my sleep and use 3 times the amount of current that I normally use on a daily basis. See you in court PGE.

    Reply
  • Ed 12/10/11 1:21 AM

    We are suing the PUC in Maine but over not following statute requiring them to ensure safety. Regardless of accuracy issues I’m shocked that most activists either don’t realize or are not making the case that most of us had off-peak rates after say 7pm, 40-50 years ago with analog meters! WTF, we don’t need smart meters for time/ variable rate structure, that’s BS. Think about it for 5 seconds, either you and the utility have the ability to instantly change rates and use or the structure is set based on defined periods in the day. If it’s instant and the rates are low and you decide to bake bread, 10 minutes into your project the rates go back up and you’re screwed. If on/off peak are defined ahead, you don’t need the world of instant smart meters, at least not for energy saving. Right now you can pick up a kill-a-watt meter for $20 or free at your local Maine library and deterimine what energy hogs you are still using. You can also buy right now, for less money than your future smart meter interface will cost, one of several home energy monitors that let you look at whole house use. Black and Decker makes one. The SM program is not about saving energy and under enabling federal legislation in 2005 was not to be mandatory and was to be Opt-In. A time variable rate structure “shall be offered’ [not mandated] and shall available “at the customer’s request.” The PUC’s have made up their own rules but they are contrary to the feds.

    Reply
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