The Pennsylvania Utilities Commission wants more information about PECO Energy’s handling of its smart meter program, including failure rates of its meters, the number of overheating incidents and how many overheating incidents resulted in damage.
A PECO spokeswoman on Friday said that such PUC data requests are not unusual.
Regulators in other states, including Illinois and Maryland, are investigating allegations of dangerously overheating electric smart meters and reports of meter fires.
PECO’s smart meter program came under scrutiny last month after some Bucks County fire marshals raised concerns about newly installed smart electric meters overheating and causing house fires. After the safety worries went public, PECO temporarily suspended installing new smart meters Aug. 15.
PECO officials said the utility is aware of overheating problems in 15 of the 186,000 digital meters that it has replaced in Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia since March.
The utility has completed investigations into six of the incidents, which it says shows the meters are not faulty and that pre-existing conditions with wiring on the customer’s side caused the overheating issues.
PECO spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez could not say how long the suspension would last.
So far, more than 15,000 Sensus meters have been replaced with another brand, L & G, and no overheating problems have been detected with the L & G meters, Engel Menendez said.
Last week, the first software upgrade was remotely installed in the existing Sensus meters, which is designed to automatically shut off electric service if any problem with the meter is detected.
A second safety upgrade will be available starting Sept. 6 and will include an early-alarm signal that will immediately alert PECO if a problem is detected and allow the utility to respond.
But in an Aug. 24 letter, the PUC requested PECO answer 17 questions involving its smart meter program as a result of safety concerns raised about the program as a whole, said PUC press secretary Jennifer Kocher. PECO has until Friday to respond.
The PUC is looking for any potential code violations, Kocher said. Once it reviews the answers, the agency will decide if the matter should be forwarded to its Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement.
Among the questions that the PUC wants answers to:
- The number of meter incidents that resulted in damage to PECO equipment or customer’s property;
- A list of meter failures by incident type:
- How many meters were installed by each vendor as of Aug. 24;
- What were the installation guidelines, notes or procedures for smart meters given to installers;
- The outcomes of any investigations in the “root cause” for meter incidents and an estimated timeline
- when remaining investigations will be done;
- What type of “due diligence” PECO performed to ensure the approved meter vendors were providing “safe and reliable” equipment and installation, and if PECO become aware of any potential overheating issues or other problems with selected meter equipment.
Between July and Aug. 17, the PUC received three informal complaints involving smart meter installations including one involving a fire, Kocher said. During the same time period, it received an additional 22 calls with general questions about the meter installations, but no complaints were filed.
Engel Menendez called the request “fairly standard,” adding that the state regulatory agency makes similar information requests “many times” throughout the year. She said that the utility has provided the PUC with regular updates on its meter installation process.
PECO is required to replace the electric meters of its 1.6 million business and residential customers in the Philadelphia region and part of York County as part of a 2008 Pennsylvania energy efficiency law. The law requires all Pennsylvania utilities to update meter technology to encourage energy conservation.
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