Bryan
Olnick, FPL vice president of Customer Service for Smart Grid
Solutions, discusses the roll out of smart grid technology and the
benefits for FPL customers. Through April 2012, more than 3.2 million
of FPL’s 4.6 million customers have smart meters installed.
Installation will continue through 2013.
Juno
Beach, FL (May 1, 2012) -- This is an exciting time to work in
the energy business and it is also a good time to be a customer of
Florida
Power & Light Company. We are rolling
out advanced technology that will allow FPL to improve upon its
already industry-leading reliable service and give our customers more
control than ever over their energy bills.
The
technology includes smart meters, which will replace the traditional
meters on the side of your home. Unlike the traditional meters, which
required someone to visit your home and read the energy use on a
monthly basis, the smart meters use radio frequencies to communicate
with our network. Automated feeder switches and other "smart
grid" technology we are installing on our poles and lines are
integrated with the smart meters, allowing us to reroute power in the
case of an outage and minimize the number of customers who will be
impacted. The upgrade to smart meters will also help us see outages
in the system so we can get to work faster restoring your power.
What's
more, you as a customer will have access to the information your
smart meter delivers through an "energy dashboard' that gives
you a complete look at your account and your energy use by the month,
day or hour. The energy dashboard will show you your energy use
history and even project your bill based on your current use
patterns. It will provide additional information about how the
weather impacts your monthly bill. All of this is designed to give
you greater control over your energy use and, with it, the ability to
change your usage to lower your bill. No more surprises at the end of
the month!
Not
everyone has embraced the value of smart grid technology. You may
have read accounts from critics who assert smart meters are a way of
"Big Brother" monitoring your personal life. This couldn't
be further from the truth. Like the older mechanical meters, they
measure how much total energy customers use, and not specifically
which appliances use that energy. The difference is that the new
smart meters can now communicate that information remotely instead of
a meter reader having to visit your location once a month. The energy
usage information is fully encrypted, and the smart meter does not
store or transmit any information about who our customers are, where
they live, or what they're doing.
There
are critics who worry about smart meters and radio frequency. The
fact of the matter is, unlike many other common household devices
that transmit radio frequency, smart meters only transmit data in
short bursts lasting just a few seconds. The meters are inactive as
much as 99 percent of the time. That means they give off a fraction
of the radio frequency compared to cell phones or other common
household devices, like baby monitors.
Once
you experience the benefits of smart grid technology, we think you
will agree it is a significant way for us to better serve you, and
for you to take control of your energy use. With FPL, you already
have a great value, the lowest power bills in the state. Now, with
smart grid technology, you have the opportunity to make your bill
even lower. Check out http://www.FPL.com/energysmart
to get all the information and see how customers are already saving
energy and money using their online energy dashboard--a new FPL
service made possible by smart meters.
Bryan
Olnick, FPL vice president of Customer Service for Smart Grid
Solutions, discusses the roll out of smart grid technology and the
benefits for FPL customers. Through April 2012, more than 3.2 million
of FPL’s 4.6 million customers have smart meters installed.
Installation will continue through 2013. Visit the digital library at
http://www.FPL.com/newsroom
to download photos and video of smart meters.
Media
Contact:
FPL
Media Line
Florida
Power & Light Company
700
Universe Blvd.
Juno
Beach, FL 33408
305-552-3888
No comments:
Post a Comment