October 24, 2005

LED BY ROGOWSKY, KAPLOWITZ AND ABINANTI, WESTCHESTER LEGISLATORS CALL ON NEW YORK STATE’S PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TO SMARTEN UP ON ENERGY POLICY

County Board unanimously calls for Commission to get on the side of consumers and energy conservation by demanding that utilities make ‘smart meters’ widely available to residential customers

At a special meeting this morning, the County Board of Legislators passed a resolution that calls on the state’s Public Service Commission to amend current regulations regarding electrical meters. Specifically, the Board called on the Commission to cease Con Edison’s planned replacement of 300,000 residential electrical meters unless and until Con Ed or a third party is able to provide meters capable of “real time pricing.”

“The meters Con Ed wants to put in are the traditional ‘dumb meters,’” said Marty Rogowsky (D-I-WF, Harrison), Chair of the County Board’s Committee on Energy, one of three committees that signed out the resolution to the full Board. “Though they would allow for remote reading of meters, these meters run on antiquated technology. It doesn’t make economic or environmental sense to put these old meters in when there is new technology or ‘smart meters’ readily available that enable consumers to use electricity intelligently. Residential consumers should have the same opportunity that commercial consumers now enjoy to monitor their electricity usage and adjust their electricity usage patterns to save money.”

The new technology known as ‘smart meters’ are home energy monitoring systems that allow customers to monitor their real time usage and their real time pricing, enabling them to lower their cost of electricity and improve their energy efficiency.

County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz (D, Somers), Chair of the Committee on Budget and Appropriations and immediate past Chair of the Committee on the Environment, noted that ‘smart meters’ offer consumers what he calls the ‘three E’s.’ “Smart meters are more economic, better for the environment and more efficient,” Kaplowitz said. “Imagine there’s a gas station where it normally costs $4.00 per gallon but if you go after 11 PM, it’s only $2.00 per gallon. Wouldn’t you want the option to go out at 11 PM to save money on a commodity you use so much of? It’s all about providing the rate payers with a choice.”

“‘Smart meters’ promote efficiency and are better for the environment,” Legislator Thomas Abinanti (D-I-WF, Greenburgh), Chair of the County Board’s Committee on the Environment, said. “Knowledge is power and knowledge enables consumers to have a choice. Most people if given the choice between ‘dumb’ and ‘smart,’ will pick ‘smart.’ The point is that we need to give them the choice.”

Currently, residential consumers can’t elect to have a ‘smart meter’ installed in their homes.

The purpose of the special meeting today was to enable the County Attorney’s office to submit the resolution along with formal comments to the Public Service Commission by today’s deadline of
5:00 PM.

Click here for the resolution the Board passed today.