OnCor new Electric Meter Readers = higher rates? (contractors, garden) - Austin - Texas (TX) - Page 6 - City-Data Forum

austinizer · 03-24-2010, 09:54 AM

derekv, thanks for posting the screenshot, this gives me a much better idea!!

I suppose if you wanted to test the effect of shutting on and off a particular appliance, you need to keep a log of the time when you turned it on and off, and check the graph two days later. This will come in real handy for checking the A/C consumption in summer, checking how much the computer and TVs use, and how much "baseline load" we have such as fridge, electronics in standby mode, DC adapters, etc.

austinizer · 03-24-2010, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmanu44

That is the correct number. I just spoke to the Smart Meter Texas Service Desk for the same issue of "Smart Meter does not exist". They were not much help...said I needed to wait 60 days after the meter is installed (was installed in October). Web site says I need to contact the REP, but SMT service desk says I need to contact Oncor. I also asked whether the site would include the ability to review the power sold back to the grid through the meter (I have solar PV on the house). She provided a generic answer (if it has an ESI and a Meter Number, then I should be able to review the data) but she would not definitively answer the question yes or no...which leaves me believing she was probably just guessing based on what was on her script.

So, now I'm waiting for Oncor's IDR and Complex Billing Help Desk to answer my email.

pmanu44, thanks for the info. About tracking your solar PV inflow/outflow, did you get one of those special smart meters that tracks the inflow and outflow of electricity? I read through some solar PV forums and apparently with the standard smart meter that Oncor installs, your solar PV power that is fed back into the grid is not recorded. I suppose once you can access the web portal, you could test by turning off all/most power to your home for a while on a sunny day and see what the website records! Maybe the graph will go negative? Be sure to come back and let us know!

pmanu44 · 03-24-2010, 10:12 AM

The meter definitely records the outflow. Inflow is metered on reading #1, outflow has a code of 57 (as the meter cycles through the various readings). TXU also pays me for the metered outflow, but they only provide info quarterly, and it is a quarterly total, no details.

I have a TED 5000 that provides a secondary metering solution, but it would be nice to be able to verify its measurements against the meter in less than quarterly increments.

oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots · 03-25-2010, 09:35 PM

They came and switched it out today. Remember when they do everything goes OFF for a few seconds and then on again.

mickey65 · 03-31-2010, 10:43 AM

I got mine switched out today. I have a bypass of some kind, so my power didn't go out.

Sigh...I guess we'll see what next month's bill looks like...

robino2001 · 03-31-2010, 10:45 AM

I haven't tried to log into the Oncor site yet, but I've had two bills since the switch and everything has been exactly as expected (price-wise) - just fyi.

oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots · 03-31-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robino2001

I haven't tried to log into the Oncor site yet, but I've had two bills since the switch and everything has been exactly as expected (price-wise) - just fyi.

What was expected? (if you don't mind me asking)

robino2001 · 03-31-2010, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

What was expected? (if you don't mind me asking)

check the first page... people were saying their bills were much higher than expected or should be.

austinizer · 04-19-2010, 07:42 PM

After trying unsuccessfully for a couple of weeks now, I was finally able to register for a Smart Meter Texas account today! I think it may have become available exactly 2 months after the meter was installed, which would mean that many Round Rock/Austin residents in the Oncor area should be able to start registering as well.

As promised, the 15-minute interval kWh usage is displayed. Right now I'm only able to see two days of data. The last two days are not available, and it looks like data before we became eligible to register is not available as well. If you'd like to know the average power you used (in kW) for each period, multiply the 15 minute data by four.

The data is available for export through email, but if you only need one day's data, I found it easier to copy & paste it into Notepad and from there into Excel. The exported data in the email has a couple of advantages though, it has a date stamp (in addition to time) and you can request multiple day's data.

Unfortunately, the site itself is lacking any kind of statistical analysis tools (such as min, max, average) so I did some data analysis of our usage in Excel. I removed some power spikes and was able to get a pretty good idea of our baseline power and how it varies throughout the day.

rodnrh · 07-25-2010, 01:23 AM

I live in the DFW area and I dont know about other peoples rates but I was shocked this week when I found out about the Oncor pass through rate I am paying, I have a contract with Cerro energy for $.08 per kwh use about 3500, and was charged almost $100 dollars by Oncore as pass through rate which would equal about $.03 per kwh on top of my contract price. I mean come on!!! An additional $100 just to hook a electric line to my house is costing an extra $100 per month. Sounds likle legal robbery to me.