Poudre Valley REA Advanced Metering

Poudre Valley REA Is Installing Automated Meters

Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association has contracted with Landis & Gyr for the installation and deployment of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) on the cooperative’s 3,600 miles of power lines.

This new metering system will provide near real-time communication between parts of our electric grid. It will allow us to more efficiently manage our electric distribution system, reduce costs, improve service reliability and offer you more options for managing your electric use in the future.

Member/consumers receive a letter from Poudre Valley REA prior to installation of a new meter and a door-hanger identifies when a meter is changed. Only a temporary service interruption is necessary.

Portions of the AMI system went online in the third quarter of 2009. By the end of 2011 5,150 meters had been installed. Projected completion date for the project is 2014 when all 36,000 meters will be on AMI.

Adapting the Poudre Valley REA grid to this new technology will have benefits for consumers in reduced costs and enhanced reliability of the electricity delivery system. The reaction time to outages will be reduced and the efficiencies gained from more effective power management are projected to result in reduced carbon emissions from electricity generation. It will also enable remote meter reading. Future applications will allow for in-home consumer access to energy use and billing data.

The value of this technology relative to national security issues was codified in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which recognized it will make the grid better able to react to component failures, caused by natural disasters or acts of sabotage that can lead to widespread cascading power outages and blackouts.

Click on this buttonto see a movie that illustrates the basics of Smart Grid technology for electric consumers

Some plain facts about automated meters

The new meter will provide information on your energy use daily. This will help us answer your billing questions better and trouble shoot problems you might have with your service. The meter will only register the amount of energy you use, not how you use energy, nor will it allow us to control any aspect of your energy use. All meters in our service territory must be of similar technology in order for the whole system to work effectively. If you are concerned about the meter change, please give us a call so we can discuss it with you in more detail. 970-226-1234

These meters are safe. Many commonly used devices create RF emissions, including smart meters. RF emissions produced by automated meters are extremely small in comparison to many other commonly used devices and far below emission standards set by the FCC. There is no known hazard to human health caused by RF emissions from technologies such as automated meters.

Comparison of RF Power Density in the Everyday Environment
Device Relative Power Density in microwatts per square centimeter

FM radio or TV broadcast station signal -- 0.005
AMI Meter at 10 feet -- 0.1
Cyber cafe (Wi-Fi) -- 10-20
Laptop Computer -- 10-20
Cell phone held up to head -- 30-10,000
Walkie-Talkie at head -- 500-42,000
Microwave oven, two inches from door -- 5,000

Additional information regarding automated meters and RF emissions

EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety (PDF)
Radio Frequency (RF) & Smart Meters Questions & Answers (PDF)
ccst.us/publications/2011/2011smartA (PDF)

For more information on this and other programs
call the Member Services Department at 970-226-1234