An investigation into the causes of fires and the procurement practices surrounding Sask-Power's smart meter program has concluded that customer safety was not given a high enough priority by SaskPower. This and other findings have led to a series of recommendations aimed at preventing such problems in the future.
"Customer safety does not appear to have been a consideration until after reports of smart meter fires involving Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) arose," independent experts at the law firm Robertson Stromberg found. "It did not become a matter of central importance until June of 2014."
During June and July of 2014, there were eight different cases where smart meters caught fire, prompting the suspension of the installation program and a later cabinet order to remove the meters.
Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) was directed to conduct a review and commissioned a number of independent experts to examine different aspects of the issue.
An initial study of the causes of the fires shows that rainwater and contaminants getting into the meters appear to be a major contributing factor in the failures, not issues related to their installation.
The review also identified a number of problems in the procurement and project management processes.
Overall, the company's risk management process was found to be lacking. While SaskPower did identify a number of risks, the possibility the meters could actually short out and catch fire was not considered until similar fires at the PECO became public.
While contractor and employee safety were considered, customer safety was not given enough priority, the review found.
SaskPower had also received advice that it should buy small batches of smart meters through a "stepped procurement" process, install them gradually and watch for problems.
The company did not do that. After some smaller initial purchases, it went on to buy more than 100,000 meters in a three week period and initiated a full-scale installation program. This was done because they had the budget available for it in 2013.
CIC Minister Don McMorris said the provincial cabinet has reviewed a summary of the findings and the government has directed CIC to:
Ensure that SaskPower removes all Sensus meters by March 15, 2015 at the latest;
Ensure that SaskPower implements all of the consultants' recommendations; and
Work with all the Crowns to ensure they are applying the lessons from this incident across the Crown sector.
