Advanced metering infrastructure widely viewed as key to smarter power grid and reducing time customers are left in the dark during outages

TOM JOHNSON | NJ SPOTLIGHT August 31, 2020

In what amounts to a first, all four of the state’s electric utilities have plans to either install smart meters or, in the case of Rockland Electric, have already done so.

Smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure are widely viewed as crucial to building a smarter electric grid — one that can successfully integrate intermittent sources of electricity like solar panels and offshore wind into a more intelligent power grid. It will also give utilities the ability to respond and restore power rapidly when more than a million customers experience outages, such as happened earlier this month during a tropical storm.

So far, that’s largely not the case in New Jersey, with the exception of Rockland Electric’s 74,000 customers, who got smart meters last year under a pilot program approved by the state Board of Public Utilities.

Holding off on smart metering

In the past, state regulators have been reluctant to boost utility customers’ bills by approving smart meters, even though they are widely used in the rest of the country, with more than 90 million homes outfitted with the technology.

“New Jersey has been beyond the curve for years on smart meters,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “We’ve underinvested in the electric grid for generations.’’

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From BILLYPENN

Public schools in Pa. were required to pay employees through June, but the mandate has expired, the Inquirer reports, so many districts are furloughing staff. The moves, which are not yet happening in Philadelphia, come as another potential health issue rears its head. The bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease flourishes in stagnant water, like that in semi-shuttered academic buildings. Experts tell the New York Times it can only be cleared out by flushing every tap. So far in Pa., it’s been found in four schools near Pittsburgh, per WXPI.

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By Jenna Johnson, New York Times

Across Pennsylvania — especially in rural communities — tens of thousands of yard signs supporting Joe Biden have popped up as his fans try to replicate how President Trump showed his growing support in the state when he was campaigning in 2016. And, just as quickly, some of those signs have been vanishing.

It usually happens in the dark of night, local Democrats say, but sometimes in daylight. Sometimes entire streets or neighborhoods are cleared. Pro-Biden Facebook groups have devoted long threads to strategies for deterring sign snatchers — one suggestion involves clear hair gel and pesky glitter, another electrifying the metal frame with a car battery.

While sign thefts are a problem every election year for candidates of both parties — and are an ongoing source of headaches for campaign staffers and party officials — some Democrats in Pennsylvania and several other states insist it’s worse for them this year and illustrates the emotional intensity of the coming election. While there are examples of Trump signs also disappearing, there hasn’t been the same level of public outcry.

Campaign staffers frequently roll their eyes at the utility of campaign signs, preferring to spend their time and money on higher-tech sales pitches. But as the Trump campaign proved in 2016, signs can create a momentum for a candidate all on their own, persuading people that siding with a candidate, even a controversial one, is safe.

Now, with many people stuck at home amid a historic pandemic, yard signs have become a stand-in for other shows of support for a candidate, such as attending a rally or marching in a parade. When that symbol vanishes, it can feel like a violation.

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