FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

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Response:
FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 46
29.2 Provide the next lower level of milestones with corresponding percentage
complete and dates.
Please refer to the response to BCUC IR1 Q29.1 above.
30.0 Reference: Project Description
Exhibit B-1, Tab 4.0, section 4.1.1, p. 43;
HAN/IHD - Home-Area Network,
Risk of Picking ‘HAN technology Winner’
FortisBC states on page 43 of the Application:
“One of the benefits of an AMI solution is the capability to allow customers to take a
more active role in monitoring, controlling and moderating personal electric use.
Customers can easily view the amount and timing of their electric use through the HAN
and/or customer information portal. One of the requirements of the procurement
process was that vendors be able to meet emerging industry standards for IHDs using
the Zigbee communications protocol.”
A New Zealand Electricity Commission (now Electricity Authority) 2009 paper titled
“Advanced Metering Infrastructure in New Zealand: Roll-out and Requirements” states
on pages 33 to 35:
“The inclusion of a HAN would result in costs being incurred that would be passed on to
all consumers, regardless of whether consumers ever used the HAN interface. That cost
would have to be met, even though consumers would have to wait a significant period,
perhaps up to 10 years, before gaining access to that benefit.
HAN communication protocols and technologies are rapidly evolving. That increases the
risk of HAN technology as we know it today becoming obsolete. The risk in requiring that
AMI have a HAN interface now is that the HAN technology required by regulations may
not prove to be the ‘winning’ technology. Even if New Zealand does select what turns out
to be one of the most widely-adopted technologies, by the time it is able to be used by
consumers it may not be the version of that technology that has been widely adopted.
The consequence of an incorrect decision on HAN-interface protocols and HANtechnologies
will be the additional cost associated with changing or upgrading the
technology in the future. ...
An initial high-level analysis of the costs and benefits of including a HAN interface in AMI
infrastructure compared with the costs and benefits of including a HAN interface in AMI