Staff Writer
It’s a constant battle. The utility bill appears, eyes bulge and vows are made to reduce usage.
These vows can be tough to fulfill when usage is a guessing game from month to month, but that is likely to change in the near future thanks to a $13 million grant received by JEA from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The JEA Board of Directors was presented with the utility’s three-year plan to further develop “Smart Grid Technologies” at its Tuesday meeting.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made available $4.5 billion for “Smart Grid Grants” to improve the reliability and efficiency of the grid. In an effort to create an electrical system for the next century, the federal government released “Grid 2030,” a plan that calls for “the construction of a 21st century electric system that connects everyone to abundant, affordable, clean, efficient, and reliable electric power anytime, anywhere.”
“We can achieve this through a smart grid, which would integrate advanced functions into the nation’s electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency, and security, and would also contribute to the climate change strategic goal of reducing carbon emissions,” according to the Department of Energy report.
“There is a ton of money flowing into smart grid technology right now,” said Randy Boswell, vice president of corporate data integration for JEA. “And it will lead to innovation. We are as poised as anyone to take advantage of that innovation.”
The JEA Board of Directors was told the “Smart Grid Grant” is a matching grant and JEA will also contribute $13 million to the project over three years, pushing the total money available for the project to $26 million.
“Our goal is to improve customer interaction and be proactive in assisting customers conserve their energy dollars,” said Victor Monfort, director of information technology project management services for JEA.
One of the latest technological upgrades JEA instituted was automated meter reading, which improved the process of recording and reporting customer usage.
But that technology is currently one-way. JEA can read the meter, but can’t interact with the meter. The upgrading of JEA equipment would allow the company to explore Smart Grid technologies, including plug-in for electric hybrids, an energy management web portal, remote connect and disconnect, pre-paid electric service and enhanced outage management.
The web portal will be able to provide customers with access to hourly, daily and monthly consumption through the Internet. The portal would be able to provide energy usage and energy costs to date, as well as projections through the end of the billing cycle.
If those projections appear alarming, the portal will also offer suggestions for reducing energy consumption based on usage patterns, weather and home construction.
The pre-paid system would be similar to buying pre-paid minutes for a cell phone. By using the pre-paid program at JEA, the customer would not be subject to disconnect fees or required deposits. Customers would be provided with a daily energy balance in dollars or kilowatts and would be notified when running low on money in the account.
“This will not increase customer fees at start up,” said Monfort.
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