INTERVAL METER CHECKLIST

Ontario Energy Board regulations require that all consumers that have an average monthly peak of one megawatt of electricity over the space of a calendar year must have an interval meter. A mid-sized commercial or small-sized industrial facility typically fits this profile. New customers that expect to have an annual average peak of 500 kW or more also need to install an interval meter. Even if you don't fall within these parameters, you may still choose to install an interval meter.

Here are some questions that can help you determine whether an interval meter is the right choice for your organization.

• Can you shift some of your energy use to other times of the day?

  If you have the flexibility to reschedule your production to different times of the day, you can easily reduce your electricity costs. Prices are typically lower in the early morning and late evening. Interval meters allow your company to take advantage of fluctuations in price.

• How does your energy consumption compare to the weighted average price in your local distribution company's service area?

  The wholesale price you are charged by the utility is weighted by the consumption patterns of your community. If consumers in your area use more electricity at times when prices are higher, this will result in a higher weighted average. Yet most companies have quite different consumption patterns. A banquet hall, for example, tends to use more electricity in the evening and on the weekend, when prices are typically lower. If your company uses more electricity at lower-priced times of the day, you may be paying more for your energy than you need to.

  The way to determine how much you could potentially save by using an interval meter is to compare your company's consumption pattern against that of your local distribution company's service area (their Net System Load Shape). Your local distribution company can provide information about the Net System Load Profile in your area and how interval meters can help you better manage your electricity costs.

  Comparing Energy Costs In this example, the cost of electricity for a company that uses an interval meter is compared to how much that same company would pay based on a weighted wholesale price charged to all that utility's wholesale customers. The utility buys electricity on behalf of the entire community it serves - typically purchasing more electricity at high-demand times when prices are higher. These prices are then averaged out over the billing period and passed on to its customers. Without hourly consumption information from its customers, the weighted wholesale price assumes that all customers use electricity in exactly the same way at the same times of day. Here, a company's electricity consumption stays the same throughout the day (in this case, just over 500 kWh each hour, 24 hours a day). It would end up spending more for electricity by paying the weighted utility price. With an interval meter, its overall costs would be lower during high peak periods, and a little higher during low-demand times, but in the end the company would save almost $50 a day by using an interval meter.

   

• Does your facility have the ability to temporarily reduce consumption in response to high prices?

  If you can cut back on production with little notice, an interval meter may make sense. You will also need to determine the price at which it makes more economic sense to stop or reduce production. The Demand and Price Information page provides current prices.

• Do you have the ability to generate your own electricity?

  If you already have an internal generator, you may want to explore whether using that generator not just during a power outage but also during higher price periods would help reduce your overall energy bill. More information about distributed generation is available on the Managing Your Energy page.