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Nov 10, 2009 7:53 pm US/Eastern
FPL To Install "Smart" Meters In Miami-Dade
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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FPL to install "smart' meters in thousands of homes and businesses in Miami-Dade.
Doug Murray/FPL
Thousands of Miami-Dade FPL customers will soon be able to monitor just how much electricity they use on a daily basis thanks to a 'smart' meter.
They are not new, but there is a brand new push to get one to your home. FPL on Tuesday thanked outgoing Miami mayor Manny Diaz for helping secure $200 million in federal stimulus money for a "smart meter" rollout in South Florida. As part of the Obama administration's goal to have cleaner and more efficient electrical grids in the future, it has granted Florida Power & Light the stimulus funds to move ahead with their Energy Smart Florida project.
Smart meters will allow two way communications with the computers at FPL that monitor your energy usage. That means you will be able to go online and check how much energy you are using—hour to hour, or moment to moment if you like. Ultimately, the utility says, you will be able to make better, more informed choices on everything from your thermostat setting, to the number of times you use the washer and dryer each week.
Phase 1 of the project calls for thousands of so-called 'smart meters' in customers' homes. Some 50-thousand Broward FPL customers received 'smart' meters last year. Now 'smart' meter installation will begin in Miami-Dade in the first 'major deployment' of the new technology. The new solid-state digital smart meters will replace the current electro-mechanical ones and provide customers with real time information to help them better control their energy consumption.
Mayor Diaz said, "These are investments we thought were essential because they are not just about spending money. They are about investing in our future in America as a better environmental steward."
A smart meter for every home sometime in 2011 is FPL's goal--and one for every Broward home by late 2012 or early 2013.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be in the $800 million range. Eventually every one of the utility's 4.5 million customers will be wired into a smart meter. FPL's Energy Smart Florida project director Bryan Olnick said, "This is a revolution. We are in the midst of changing how we typically use energy. I call it the energy internet."
FPL did not offer an estimate on what customers will pay for that ongoing investment. Like other electric utilities, though, FPL argues the payoff will come with energy efficiency and savings for the wired "smart" homes of the future.
CBS4.COM's John MacLauchlan contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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