PORT ANGELES — While the city of Port Angeles has wholeheartedly embraced the move to so-called smart meters, the largest utility in Clallam County is remaining much more cool about the technology.
The Clallam Public Utility District, which includes the county outside of the Port Angeles city limit, has put any serious consideration of making the switch on hold for likely three to five years, said spokesman Mike Howe.
He said PUD is not making any plans to install automated meters, which can read water and electricity use remotely and help control energy costs, partly because the technology is still fairly new.
“It’s not always best to be the first mouse to the cheese,” Howe said.
But the main issue is cost.
Howe said the price tag of replacing only PUD’s approximately 30,000 electrical meters with automated versions would cost about $15 million. That works out to $500 per meter.
The city, on the other hand, will spend $4.9 million to install about 19,000 smart electrical and water meters beginning in March. That works out to about $258 per meter.
Howe said the cost is higher for PUD because its customers are spread out over a much larger area, and it would need more wireless devices per customer to relay meter readings back to the utility.
“We would have to install more radio towers . . . you have got to build the communications infrastructure as well,” he said.
The city plans to install about nine devices around Port Angeles that will communicate with the meters.
Along with relaying meter readings, the devices also will allow a utility to remotely lower energy use during times of the day when demand is at its highest for consenting customers.
Puget Sound Energy customers in East Jefferson County have had automated meters since about 1999, but they only allow electrical and water use to be read remotely.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
