By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
After investing millions into the Smart Meter program, SaskPower will have spend another estimated $15 million to replace those same meters due to the fires they caused.
The meters were installed at the beginning of last year in more than 100,000 homes as part of SaskPower's plan for a "smart grid." Following at least 10 confirmed reports of meters smoking and catching fire, the company has been forced to recall all installations and open investigations to determine the cause of the fires.
"Our investigations are underway with results available as soon as possible," said Robert Watson, president and CEO of SaskPower, in an email response. "We are also conducting two additional third-party investigations with the help of independent labs."
The Saskatchewan government has also requested that Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) probe the process SaskPower used to hire Sensus USA Inc. (the Smart Meter suppliers), safety issues, and cost recovery options. Since SaskPower is a subsidiary of CIC, this review could also result in legal action for the supplier if there was misconduct during the procurement process.
"The overall objective of this review will be to evaluate SaskPower's due diligence throughout the Smart Meter process, as well as determine SaskPower's legal options, including receipt of financial compensation," stated the Smart Meter review, which outlines the terms of reference.
The original plan involved installing approximately 500,000 Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) electric meters (Smart Meters for both natural gas and electricity). The project was slated for a budget of $190 million, but only 105,000 were installed before the fires began to happen.
To date, the majority of smart meters were installed in Regina, Saskatoon, and surrounding communities. Only three were installed in Humboldt, none of which caught
on fire.
The fires themselves were minimal and limited to the areas around the meters. There was only a bit of smoke damage caused to the houses and no one was hurt. According to a fire marshal for Regina Fire and Protective Services, the housing structures were never in peril and there was little possibility that the fire would have spread.
"Minor smoke damage has occurred in several instances, but not in all cases," said Watson in his email response. "SaskPower will replace meters and meter sockets at no cost to customers. The likelihood of a smart meter failing is still very low - however, that does not change the fact that SaskPower is concerned about the type of failure we've seen."
It is as yet unknown if the Smart Meters caused the fires or the devices holding the meters.
Despite these setbacks, it doesn't change SaskPower's plan to develop a smart grid along with the rest of Canada. According to the company, the grid is necessary to make cities more operationally efficient and provide real time information. Real time information means customers will be charged for appropriate usage and the company will be able to sooner detect power outages.
"This province needs the power to grow. A modernized, smart power grid will make Saskatchewan's power systems more flexible, responsive, safe, efficient, reliable and customer-friendly," said Watson. "We will continue to pursue a smart grid for Saskatchewan. Approximately 9 million smart meters are already installed in Canada."
Correction: The estimated cost to replace smart meters is $15 million (not $47 million as was previously stated in the Aug. 27 issue). The total costs of the program to date are an estimated $32 million; with the $15 million to replace the meters, the project will total $47 million.
