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LIPA tries 'smart meters' in H'pauge
Federal $ funds test run with quicker, more detailed technology
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| | | By Joe Darrow | | |
June 27, 2008 | 12:43 PM
With everyone's eye on the meter as fuel prices mushroom, the Long Island Power Authority is testing technology in the Hauppauge Industrial Park aimed at aiding electricity monitoring and conservation efforts.
With a $750,000 federal grant secured by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) and $300,000 from LIPA's capital budget, the power authority is launching a trial run of "smart meters" centered in two locations, Hauppauge and Plainview.
Smart meters provide more specific and immediate information on energy use than regular utility meters, aiding efforts at reducing consumption and improving efficiency by allowing consumers as well as LIPA to better gauge electricity use.
"With energy prices at record highs, new technologies that save money and improve efficiency are long overdue," Israel stated in a release. The federal funds "will allow LIPA to fully test capabilities of this cost-saving technology without adding to the bill of the rate-payers who are already getting hit hard elsewhere."
A press conference announcing the project and funding was held Monday outside of mindSHIFT Technologies in Commack, an IT managed service provider to be included in the smart meter trial run.
"MindSHIFT operates thousands of computers and servers for our customers ... and we use a lot of LIPA-provided electricity in the process," said Tyler Roye, mindSHIFT senior executive officer. "Even a small percentage increase in efficiency from smart metering can give us an edge over competitors, while helping the environment at the same time."
LIPA itself has earmarked $300,000 in its 2008-09 capital budget toward the smart meter pilot, President and CEO Kevin Law also announced. The federal grant "will go a long way in expanding our smart meter plans," he said.
Smart meters are a key measuring tool facilitating modernization of the electric grid, according to information supplied by Israel's office. Their speed in supplying information "in near real time" and ability to record several factors of consumption, such as timing trends for peak use, would allow LIPA to develop more efficient distribution programs.
"We must be proactive in tackling our energy issues as the skyrocketing prices of oil and natural gas are ushering in the future prematurely," Law stated.
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