ConEd Proposes Deployment of Smart Meters in Rate Case

As part of its newly filed electric rate case in New York, Consolidated Edison has proposed the deployment of advanced meters in its territory.

"This filing proposes implementation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that will ultimately become the backbone for future customer engagement, unlocking greater participation in demand management programs, improving outage restoration and operational performance, and easing the integration of distributed energy resources that will substantially increase the ability of customers to engage in the management of their energy usage. AMI will provide our customers with access to a greater range of energy products and services and new energy management alternatives that will enable them to reduce energy costs by using electricity more efficiently" ConEd said.

"This project will include the installation of advanced electric meters in the Company’s service territory and the build-out of a supporting communications network for territory-wide coverage that will enable real-time, or near real-time, two-way communication enabling the Company to provide customers with information and timely feedback of their energy management actions," ConEd said.

"The Company supports the rollout of AMI to all customers as a means to enable the mass market. By identifying more discreet customer energy consumption and generation information, the Company and third party suppliers can develop or enhance customer services that further engage customers in programs to reduce energy consumption and become aware of energy price signals," ConEd said.

"AMI also lays the foundation for a more flexible rate structure that can provide enhanced opportunities for customer engagement and reward customers for optimizing their energy use, e.g., time of use rates that accurately reflect the agreed upon cost of energy provided by different entities during discreet periods of time. Similarly, AMI will allow the Company and other entities to provide more flexible billing options to customers. By allowing meters to be read at any time during the month, AMI allows for more convenient billing, i.e., billing will no longer constrained by a given read date or trip date each month," ConEd said.

An AMI implementation plan would be developed and commence in 2015. The outcomes of the implementation plan would include a detailed cost estimate and business case and a comprehensive project schedule and rollout plan. Implementation would commence in 2016 and is expected to continue through 2023, ConEd said.

Although filed in its electric rate case, ConEd said that the AMI rollout will include electric and gas meters