Oncor's new Smart Meters

Well the deployment of the new Smart Meters finally hit my area. I have a small grid-tied inverter which during the day feeds my excess power back into the grid. On my old meter, this turned my meter backwards, reducing my monthly power bill. I do not know when the new meter was installed. I suspect about three weeks ago. I contacted Oncor and asked them several questions about the new meter.

Q. The old meter would turn backward when there was more energy generation by my solar panels than consumption by the house. Will the new smart meter register this excess generation back into the grid and lower the meter counter?

A. Yes and no. The meter will slow down and even stop the in-flow meter from incrementing. Any excess beyond what the home is using is not reduced off of this meter, the meter only stops incrementation. The out-flow meter will register the excess power that is flowing back into the grid, but it is not subtracted off the in-flow meter.

Q. So there is no more zero net metering?

A. Correct. The new smart meters will keep track of out-flow from excess power generation.

Q. So how do I find out what my out-flow is and how do I get credit for it?

A. You can request that Oncor read the out-flow meter and provide that information to your electric utility provider. Oncor will charge your electric utility provider for this service and the provider may then assess a monthly fee for this service to you the customer. You will also need to negotiate with your electric provider for the amount they will pay for your electricity you put back into the grid. At this time Oncor does not have the infrastructure to read the out-flow meter but we expect to have this in operation eventually.

Q. (from my electric provider) - Oncor says I have to work out a deal with you for excess power generation from my solar panels. How do we go about this?

A. We really have no idea what you're talking about or who you would talk to.

Q. So I've heard that these new Smart Meters allow the customer to log on to a website and see the meters use every 15 minutes. Where do I log on to do this?

A. Eventually you will log on to Oncor's">Oncor's customer service site and this will be made available to you. At the present time Oncor does not have the infrastructure to provide this service.

Q. Will I be charged for the new meter?

A. Yes, Oncor is authorized to bill the customer on their electric bill a fee of around $2.53 a month for 11 years to cover the cost of the new meter.

So in a nut shell the PUC has allowed Oncor to remove the old meters without informing the public; has removed net metering and replaced it with a system that we now have to pay for; the PUC has allowed these new meters to be installed without requiring the infrastructure to be in place so even if I wanted to have my out-flow electricity read, they can't provide this service; there appear to be no regulations covering what Oncor can or will charge for the out-flow meter reading if and when it is finally made available; the same goes for the electric company, there appears to be no regulations on their charge for out-flow meter readings; my electric company has no idea how they are going to handle or even if they are going to handle my excess power generation; there may also be a monthly charge for even generating this power back into the grid!

The PUC has a slogan "Take a load off Texas" - Well they just buried a lot of people's systems because if you were a customer with excess energy going into the grid, and now you have a smart meter, you're giving away all that excess energy for free. Expect your monthly power bill to go up because the excess is no longer subtracted off the in-flow use. How wonderful.

The story gets better. I logged onto the PUC's">PUC's site to file a formal complaint. I really don't care if the electric company gets my excess power if my meter is zeroed out for the month. Plus I didn't have to go through any negotiations about how much I would get paid for my electricity...etc. It was very simple. Now I have a complex system that I'm going to have to pay for to get my out-flow read and hopefully subtracted off my in-flow reading. So I logged onto the PUC site and clicked on the online formal complaint form. I got a 404 page not found error. Great way to keep people from complaining.

I am seriously starting to consider switching to off grid once I get the last 10 panels on the roof.

Todd

We just had our new smart meter installed too, and I agree that it seems strange that some of the "features" are not yet accessible.

The Oncor installer did knock and hand me a flyer with details the day it was done. The flyer was left hanging on the door at those houses where no where no one was home.

Brian C

Isn't it wonderful to live in a state like Texas. We cant complain about our government, it is the best OUR money can buy for our utilities! I think one solution would for some of use to form an REP company to becone the REP for those that care to sell back power and as a client of Oncor, it could demand Oncore bring these feachers online or pay a fine to this company for not meeting the contractual agreement to it's customers.

No flier no nothing. I actually found out about the new meter when I was checking my numbers. Over the weekend I did find out how to read this meter. Of course this does me little good since Oncor told me that my solar panels will do nothing to the reading.

I think that is what irritates me the most; that the PUC allowed the installation of these meters while the infrastructure to support them has not been setup. In fact the email I received from Oncor says that the law governing this process is still being hammered out. So in the mean time the consumer loses - typical for the government.

Todd

We just had our new smart meter installed too, and I agree that it seems strange that some of the "features" are not yet accessible.

The Oncor installer did knock and hand me a flier with details the day it was done. The flier was left hanging on the door at those houses where no where no one was home.

Brian C

This reminds me of when Senator Hutchison sent me a response to my email concerning the "Set Love Free" campaign by SouthWest a few years ago. The response was pretty much "Don't worry, I know what's best for you and you don't need to worry about these things." What a joke! Yes mother, thank you for looking after my best interests, whatever you say they are.

I've collected information from Oncor on their current policy and what they are able to provide to the consumer. I also have an email into customer support for my electric provider to see what they have in place. I attempted to file two complaints with the PUC this weekend. The first concerning Oncor's installation of these meters without the infrastructure to support them and how this benefits only them, and a second to the PUC itself asking why Net Zero Metering is no longer supported, why they allowed Oncor to install these meters without the infrastructure to support them and why I'm being penalized for these mistakes. I couldn't submit anything to the PUC because their customer complaint form link returns a 404 page not found error! What a wonderful system they have.

I will continue to fight this because this is the time of the year when my panels provide me the most bang for the buck, or use to. It is rather irritating.

Todd

Isn't it wonderful to live in a state like Texas. We cant complain about our government, it is the best OUR money can buy for our utilities! I think one solution would for some of use to form an REP company to becone the REP for those that care to sell back power and as a client of Oncor, it could demand Oncore bring these feachers online or pay a fine to this company for not meeting the contractual agreement to it's customers.

Todd,
Check this site out. It may help you with your fustration.
www.greenmountain.com/renewablerewards.
Rick

Thanks Rick. I'll take a look. YEP Energy (my provider) responded to my inquary the way I expected.

Mr. Crenshaw,

Thank you for correspondence. Your inquiry has been forwarded to upper management for further assistance. We will reply with more information as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your time and have a great day.

Customer Care
YEP…Make us Your Energy Provider
Toll Free: 1.866.937.5937
Local: 1.713.335.5777
Fax: 1.713.358.8508
________________________________________

I have to give them some credit. At least so far they haven't just blown me off. I still am unable to submit my concerns to the PUC. I have not received a response from them concering their broken link for the customer complaint form. My goal is to push this through. I want either Zero Net Metering back as a free option, or for the PUC to have the REP's and Oncor to get their act together and get the infrastructure in place with hard deadlines.

Todd,
Check this site out. It may help you with your fustration.
www.greenmountain.com/renewablerewards.
Rick

This looks very promising Rick. For some reason I can't get the requirements link to open but I'll try again when I get home from work. Since I'm now on month to month with YEP it may be time to switch providers. If YEP doesn't have something in place I might as well switch to an REP that does. Right now with the heat we have here in Dallas, having my meter credited for out-flow is very important. At least that way I can keep my power bill down to a reasonable level. This of course also helps on my rate of return for my investment into the panels and inverter. I don't think I would even think about doing this if I wasn't a hobbyist. The cost of buying solar panels instead of building them myself is outrageous. Thanks again,

Todd

Todd,
Check this site out. It may help you with your fustration.
www.greenmountain.com/renewablerewards.
Rick

The saga continues. Oncor just called and I talked to a very nice person about the new smart meters. For those who believe that the new smart meters will work for DRG use, well that's not true. For those of us generating our own power and selling it back to the electric company (DRG), a new meter that is capable of reading out-flow must be installed. The new smart meters being installed are not capable of this function. The good news is that Oncor does have the infrastructure in place to read and report the outflow to the electricity provider.

What does this mean for me? It means I need to get my initial 15 panels on the roof of the house; get the Sunny Boy inverter installed; file my paperwork with Oncor to approve my installation and connection; then either work with my current electricity provider (YEP) or Green Mountain for pay back for providing electric power to the REP.

Moving forward, finally!

Todd

I was considering attending an ERCOT meeting to find out who was in charge of the meter change project, and then bring the issue of their actions to their attention. I seriously doubt that whoever was in charge knew just what they were doing, nor what effect their actions have had.

Todd

Isn't it wonderful to live in a state like Texas. We cant complain about our government, it is the best OUR money can buy for our utilities! I think one solution would for some of use to form an REP company to becone the REP for those that care to sell back power and as a client of Oncor, it could demand Oncore bring these feachers online or pay a fine to this company for not meeting the contractual agreement to it's customers.