The $650m plan, to be filed this month with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), is expected to save customers about $1.5 billion during the life of the project, improve service and benefit the environment. PECO’s smart meter plan – to be submitted to the PUC on August 14 – will seek approval to install metering infrastructure, backbone communications network and information systems to integrate customer energy usage with utility operations. The communications networks – fiber optics and wireless – will enable two-way communication between the smart meters and the smart grid.
The stimulus plan includes several private-public partnerships that would: support low-income customers involving the Philadelphia Housing Authority as well as suburban county housing and social service agencies, fund advanced energy management systems, and related applications and research at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. It allows technology demonstrations at 10 commercial office buildings owned and managed by Liberty Property Trust, sponsors job-training opportunities to support rapid smart-meter installations, and pursues targeted customer deployment and renewable energy applications with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and others.
Denis O’Brien, president and CEO of PECO, commented: “PECO is making long-term investments in critical infrastructure that will deliver significant benefits to our customers, the communities we serve, and the environment. Our smart meters and smart grid will make a meaningful difference to our customers through reduced energy costs and enhanced operational performance, and they also will position our region to attract new energy-related businesses and jobs.”
