San antonio smart meters

Some citizens expressed concern that too much information is being gathered — that a digital network opens up the grid to attack and abuse. National and local anti-smart meter groups — yes, they exist — have suggested, without any evidence to support the conspiracy theories, that information about customer lifestyles and habits can be gleaned from the data.

While account information is kept private, the federal government has subpoenaed utility records just as it has accessed individual bank records when criminal activity is suspected. Local travel agent John Joseph is another customer seriously considering opting out of the program.

He pointed to fires in Canada, Philadelphia, Oregon and other states that resulted in property damage and the recall of hundreds of thousands of meters. A malfunction in a certain model of Sensus smart meters installed between caused several fires in Portland. Canadian utilities had similar problems this summer. More commonly, fires start due to faulty installation. If any are found to be faulty, the entire batch is rejected.

So far, so good. Millions of smart meters have been installed by Silver Spring and Cori, Moreno said. Notifications will be mailed to residents about one month before installation and reminder phone calls will remind residents of the meter exchange one week in advance. Photo courtesy of CPS Energy. Senior Reporter Iris Dimmick covers public policy pertaining to social issues, ranging from affordable housing and economic disparity to policing reform and workforce development.

Contact her at iris sareport. Smart meter installation map courtesy of CPS Energy. Click to enlarge. Photo by Iris Dimmick. In other action Tuesday, former San Antonio assistant city manager Ed Belmares was sworn in as a new board member representing the South Side.

He replaces Pat Jasso, who has reached the end of her term limits. While many praised his qualifications, several council members raised the issue of racial equality and said they preferred Fernando Reyes, who also had applied. In the end, both Potts and Reyes withdrew their names from consideration and the committee chose Belmares, who was among the original applicants.

He was approved by the council at its Sept. Liz Hardaway is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. CPS Energy completed replacing , analog meters citywide in , four years after starting the overhaul. Now, customers see their water use once a month, when bills arrive. In , CPS Energy rolled trucks out 58, fewer times — or 34 percent less — than the previous year due to changes made under the Smart Grid initiative, including the new meter rollout, Sotoodeh said.

Today, most SAWS water meters are read monthly by a meter reader. The reader drives out to a neighborhood, walks to each meter and writes down the readings manually. Under the new system, the meters will communicate wirelessly between SAWS and its customers, Bailey said.

This would allow customers to see their water use in near-real time, just as CPS Energy customers can in the My Energy Portal feature on its website, Bailey said.