Township of Lincoln (Clare County) P.O. Box 239 Lake George, Michigan 48633-0239 phone: [989] 588-9841 website: www.lincolntwp.com Dennis Zimmerman Supervisor 20 October, 2016 [989] 588-9343 (residence) denniszimm@charter.net Consumers Energy Smart Energy Program Jerry Bridges and I met, today, with a representative from Consumers Energy, Kathryn Burkholder (Smart Energy Outreach Coordinator), to review the details of the Smart Energy Program, that will be implemented in Lincoln Township, as well as the surrounding area(s), in the summer of 2017. You may recall that the initial announcement of this program was back, prior to Memorial Day Weekend of 2016. Mrs. Burkholder s presentation included a lot of information that we already knew, plus a number of details and questions, that she anticipated. This meeting took about 20 minutes, and what follows is what we learned, today: 1. All Electric meters will be considered for replacement with Smart Meters, per Michigan Public Service Commission mandate, Statewide. Smart Meters allow instant, direct communication with Consumers Energy, NOT ONLY to let them know Electric Energy usage/amount, but also if there is a Power Outage, or some sort of problem involving Electrical usage at a given residence. 2. Appr. 35 electric meters thru-out the Township are being replaced (or have already been replaced), immediately. These are meters that are hard for Meter-readers to access, for any number of reasons -- behind a gate, a dog is present, on a seasonal 2-track trail, etc. There are appr. 2,300 meters in Lincoln Township. 3. When it becomes time for YOUR installation, here is what happens: a. Each customer will, initially, receive a Blue Card (appr. 6 x 9 ) in the mail, proposing to change your meter within the next 30 days, (attachment #1 on page 3); b. Then, each customer will receive a 1-page letter within about 2 weeks of the proposed change (attachment # 2 on page 4); c. When a technician shows up to actually change your meter, he/she will be driving a vehicle that is properly identified as an authorized Consumers Energy vehicle: will be wearing a yellow safety vest; and will be displaying proper ID credentials, as an employee of Consumers Energy, and, they will knock on your door, before proceeding; d. Your power may be OFF for 5 minutes during the change; e. If you have a generator that comes on, in the event of a power interruption, this is NOT a problem, and the generator will turn itself off, once the Smart Meter comes online; f. If you are NOT at home when the meter is changed, you will receive a door hanger, (attachment # 3 on page 5) that the job was completed; or g. If NOT home and the technician could NOT access your meter, you will receive a door hanger (attachment #4 on page 6), to that effect. 4. How the Smart Meter works: a. Under normal circumstances, between the hours of midnight and 3:00 am, the meter will send a text message, (via Verizon), to Consumer s Energy.; b. This time of day is selected, because there is less cell phone traffic, and more bandwidth available for messaging; c. Routinely this daily message will indicate the amount of power usage, and may indicate any abnormal or unusual circumstances; d. Should an outage occur, a text to that effect, is sent instantly, regardless of the time of day;
e. Each Smart Meter is equipped, and therefore can communicate to Consumers Energy, a Tamper Alert ; f. Smart Meters are equipped with a back-up battery, in order to communicate in case of a power outage; g. This program allows you, the customer to track your energy use, online, via the Smart Energy Web Portal which you can find on the website at: www.consumersenergy.com/smartenergy. So why is this of use? Suppose you have decided to replace, say, an old refrigerator with a new, more energy efficient unit. You can go to that website and track your energy usage from the old unit on one day, and compare it to the new unit on another day. 5. A customer may decide to opt-out of the Smart Meter Program, however, that opt-out will eventually result in a higher monthly rate, currently projected to be appr. $ 9.72 per month. There is NO CHARGE for the new Smart Meter. 6. Consumers Energy will have the capability to remotely turn off your electrical service if there is a problem, or if your monthly bill is not paid, however, this will NOT happen any faster than it does, now, unless it is by your request. Additionally, when it comes time to turn the electricity back on, this can be done in about one hour, not several days. 7. If you are currently performing work, or construction, that includes a new build, or an upgrade to your breaker box, or electrical system, you can call Consumers Energy to set up a day, now, to make conversion to a Smart Meter. 8. In case of an area power outage, (for example, from storm damage) the Smart Meter Program, allows for better [area] analytics, and should now be able to give you a much faster projection of power restoration. 9. If you have a weekend or seasonal dwelling where no power is being used, while you are not here, this is NOT a problem. The Smart Meter will simply text Consumers Energy that no power has been used in that time. 10. A customer may be offered the opportunity to have some wiring modifications added to this service. This is strictly at the customer s expense is completely voluntary, and would be performed by Consumers Energy Technicians. Consumers Energy would then be able to remotely shut down certain appliances, such as Air Conditioning, at the customer s dwelling, during peak energy usage times. Again, this is strictly voluntary, but, it would result in an additional discount on your monthly invoice. 11. Finally, there are a myriad of horror stories on the Internet, that Smart Meters cause Cancer; Hyper- Tension; Migraine Headaches; One leg may get longer than the other; Your bicycle seat will remain constantly broken, and the Allies will lose the war. Well, if it s on the internet, then, it must be true, Right? LINCOLN TOWNSHIP IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDER