(Louisville Business First) - The Kentucky Public Service Commission has denied a proposal by Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. to install more than a million "smart" meters across their service areas.
In an order issued today, the PSC stated that although it sees benefits in advanced metering, the two utilities had "failed to provide sufficient evidence to persuade us that the … benefits of the AMS (Advanced Metering System) proposal outweigh the costs here."
The KU/LG&E application was denied without prejudice, according to a news release, meaning that the utilities may submit a similar plan in the future. You can read the entire order here.
KU proposed to replace about 531,000 electric meters, and LG&E proposed to replace about 413,000 electric meters and to retrofit about 334,000 natural gas meters.
The utilities estimated that the total capital cost of the new meter systems would be $165.2 million for LG&E and $146.7 million for KU. The cost to deploy the new meters would have been an additional $13.3 million for LG&E and $15.2 million for KU.
Advanced meters have a radio transmitter that connects to a central communication network. The meters can transmit usage data in real time as well as information about power outages and other unusual events, such as tampering.
Because the meters are read remotely, the utilities contended that the meters would produce net savings by reducing the cost of meter reading. The utilities also stated that the meters would improve system reliability and reduce losses from system malfunctions and theft of service.
