Editor: In The Times (Dec. 27), a letter to the editor titled “Smart meters will reduce wasted electricity” caught my eye.
The letter seems to put forward the idea that smart meters will somehow reduce waste energy by voltage optimization.
Voltage optimization has nothing to do with the meter on your house. Voltage optimization is handled by an auto transformer install before the meter, either by the home owner or the hydro company. The voltage optimization transformer feels the load and reduces the voltage available to the home and the appliances within to a lower level.
The savings from these lower voltages can be read by any meter. And as far as the hydro company not knowing what the load on their mains are, the substation control system is transmitting that information 24/7 to Hydro. The idea that electricity is put into the grid needs to be understood.
The hydro system makes a voltage potential available to the grid to be drawn on by the load from the substations and on to the load in your home.
The letter reads like a BC Hydro ad for smart meters. Yes, voltage optimization can save you money, but not by installing a smart meter. For more unbiased information, just Google voltage optimization.
John Winter,
Langley