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[babybearjs]

well, this is a question I've had for awhile.... I live in southern Idaho, Boise to be exact. the power companty here, Idaho Power went digital back in 200? and now all the meters are digital, not analog. anyway, they use PLC technology to read and control the grid, and to offer savings on A/C systems by adding a PLC unit to your A/C unit to cycle it on and off during the summer peak demand times. my main question is.... does the X10 system interfere with or could be controlled by Idaho Powers system?? or is their system totally different and I shouldnt be worried... does anyone have any info on this subject? who else has and is using Digital watt hour meters??  PG and E (calif) etc.  could the X10 Technoloy be adaped to work with this?? (reading ones own meter on their computer... Etc)  BBJS

[dave w]

does the X10 system interfere with or could be controlled by Idaho Powers system??
could the X10 Technoloy be adaped to work with this?? (reading ones own meter on their computer... Etc)  BBJS

1. Doubtful. If anything IP will interfere with X10, not the other way around. Are you sure it is PLC and not RF?
2. No
3. No.

There are other methods of monitoring your power consumtion. But TED is know to interfere with X10 signalling. Don't know about the others.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/08/powering-googles-powermeter-testing-ted-5000-and-alertme-energ/

[dhouston]

From the Idaho Power website at http://www.idahopower.com/ServiceBilling/Residential/Billing/AMRfaqs.cfm#13

Smart meters are secure, and they do not communicate over public airways or the Internet. Idaho Power does not use wireless smart meter technology. We have taken great precaution to protect our communication system physically and have employed cyber-security standards of encryption and isolation to further ensure the integrity of the system.

In our system, all 'conversations' happen over the power line between individual smart meters and a secure Idaho Power distribution substation using proprietary, highly technical, and secure equipment. There is no meter-to-meter communication. It is physically impossible for these meters to communicate with anything other than the substation. Typically the meters communicate with the substation four times daily to collect usage information.

Idaho Power is not installing or using remote service-disconnect capability with our smart meter system at this time.

From that we can surmise that they may interfere with X10 but we really need more information about the carrier frequency used by their PLC to be sure. In any event, if they only transmit 4 times per day, it's not likely to present a major problem - depending on the time of the transmissions.

There doesn't seem to be any way to interface with your meter for an automated readout.

Most of the country is now using smartmeters and they seem to be causing problems for X10 in one small region served by Duke Energy. There are many different smartmeters from various manufacturers in use. If you can supply the manufacturer's name and model number for your meter, we may be able to find more info on the web.