Smart meters to signal cheap power when wind is blowing

The City of Summerside is ready to buy smart meters to help its utility's 5,000 customers know when they can share in savings from a planned wind farm.

'You as a consumer can use the electricity at a higher level when the wind is blowing.' — Jeff Dahn, Dalhousie University

The city is expecting big savings when a 12-megawatt wind farm starts coming on line this fall, because the wind power will be cheaper than electricity bought from New Brunswick, and the smart meters will allow the utility's customers to share those savings. The meters would be connected to the utility, and customers would be able to see in real time when electricity is cheaper.

"The real advantage of the smart meter is that it will allow users to notice when the price is down, and then you as a consumer can use the electricity at a higher level when the wind is blowing," Jeff Dahn, a physics and chemistry professor at Dalhousie University, told CBC News Tuesday.

Dahn said making decisions about when to vacuum, do the laundry or some baking is just the beginning.

"Appliances are coming along that will have the ability to communicate with the Internet or the power company and determine when the price is low and switch themselves on at the right time," he said.

While the city is ready to buy the meters, the $2 million price tag will be cost-shared with the province and the federal government. That money has not yet come through, but the city is confident it will.

"I'd think there's probably a 90 per cent chance of making this move forward," said Terry Murphy, chief administrative officer for the city.

The new $30-million wind farm is expected to produce more than 50 per cent of the city's total electrical needs.