Ron Brajovic, Milton Hydro's  Manager of System Planning and Reliability, says the LDC has benefitted from the Smart Metering Initiative

For LDCs that are in the midst of smart metering, MDM/R integration and TOU implementation – or just beginning – it is now a matter of jumping in head first and using the resources that are available to reap Smart Metering Initiative rewards.

With Milton Hydro’s smart metering and TOU implementation nearly complete, we are beginning to benefit from the increased availability of interval data and apply its various uses:

• To improve system modeling and assess the utilization of equipment (for example, with transformer load management);
• For remote meter reads;
• To respond to meter failures;
• To identify power theft;
• To introduce Demand Side Management (DSM) and Conservation Demand Management (CDM) programs and manage their effectiveness;
• For real-time outage notification, which will be implemented in the future.

As an early supporter of smart metering in Ontario, and one of the 13 Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) selected by the province for smart meter priority installations, Milton Hydro prepared early on for the transition to time-of-use prices. We initially introduced smart meters to customers during the 1990s, and in the beginning of 2003, required all new construction to be equipped with them. Our company was also one of the first LDCs to begin billing customers on TOU rates and to participate in TOU pilot programs and consumer behaviour studies.

The early start did not make TOU implementation easier. In many cases, it required Milton Hydro - and other LDCs – to operate in uncharted territory and work with technologies that were not as common in the marketplace as they are now.

Still, throughout the process, we have learned that implementing TOU should not be considered a daunting process. Milton Hydro achieved various smart metering goals by committing to work internally and with the SME and other industry partners.

Nearly all of Milton Hydro’s 25,000 residential and small commercial customers have smart meters and are being billed on TOU rates. All TOU account data is being processed by the MDM/R on a daily basis. We also expect that our customers will be responsive to TOU price signals and play a larger role in influencing system demand in the future.

At Milton Hydro, our teams are meeting TOU implementation goals by forgetting about old methods, accepting new approaches and simply moving forward. It’s working.