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Submeter provides skeptics assurance

The device, costing about $200, monitors energy usage through an independent firm.

By ROBBYN MITCHELL
Published July 9, 2006

Since the fire at the Sojourner Truth Center in February, Winnie Foster said, she doesn't visit much.

"I go maybe three times a week for about an hour," Foster said of the center at 1621 16th St. S, St. Petersburg. "We only use the lights, and we don't run any air conditioning."

But that hasn't stopped Foster from receiving bills for more than $80 monthly for the closed facility.

As a member of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now of St. Petersburg, Foster was one of many who marched Monday with demands that Progress Energy provide customers with alternatives or a plan for energy conservation.

Progress Energy offers a free energy audit through a visit, the mail or its Web site for customers who want to know what's drinking up the most power in their homes. The quiz takes a person's account information and measures it against responses to a questionnaire and makes a determination on personal usage.

However, for a few hundred dollars, customers may prefer submetering.

"Submetering is a method by which equipment that is installed in or just outside the home monitors the amount of energy used by individual circuits in a unit to determine problem areas," said Jerry Baker, president of National Exemption Services, a submetering and conservation company.

NES sells digital and dial meters and offers monthly reports to customers.

Progress Energy began changing from dial meters to a new digital model last year to improve efficiency and cut costs, spokespeople told the Times in December.

Cherie Jacobs, corporate communications director for Progress Energy, said customers are allowed to install submeters on their property and don't need the company's permission.

Jacobs also said customers who are getting higher bills than before can look to the higher fuel costs that are being billed directly to them. Progress Energy does not receive any profit on those funds, she said.

"On average, customers should see a 12 percent increase over last year at this time," Jacobs said.

Both Baker and Jacobs are convinced that the model of digital meters used in the St. Petersburg area is accurate.

"The RF system really keeps cost containment down," Baker said. "It's highly accurate because when technicians point the gun at the meter, it enters a serial number for the unit and there can be no duplication of the reading."

Baker said the system was designed to eliminate the human errors committed when meter readers went from house to house on foot in the hot sun.

Allen Carlson has threatened to rip his electricity meter off the wall. The Tarpon Springs resident said he cannot read the new digital meter that Progress Energy installed in March and he wants to monitor exactly what he's being charged for.

"I have the right to monitor my usage on a daily or weekly basis, and the digital meter is not as clear as my old one with the dial," Carlson said.

He said he hasn't had an extreme spike in his bills as some customers have complained of, but he is concerned that if he is unable to understand the meter, Progress Energy can charge him whatever it wants.

Carlson is planning on installing a submeter on his private residence.

For Carlson, the submeter will be a way to monitor exactly what he is being charged for, but for others, submeters can serve as a watchdog designed to curtail electricity waste.

"We're independent and objective," Baker said. "We just help people keep an eye on spending."

Submeters cost $200 to $250, and monthly service is $2 to $4, depending on unit size.

Homeowners may want to invest in a submeter, but the power solution is most useful for apartment and condo residents who have energy costs included in their rent.

"By submetering your unit, you can begin to pay the local company yourself, which would ultimately save about 15 to 20 percent a month," Baker said.

[Last modified July 8, 2006, 23:32:00]