Smart meters that "talk" to each other

Cutting-edge technology is essential to the "Time It Right" Rate Project. This pilot project will be supported by a mesh network of smart meters to be installed in the four test cities.

The new meters will replace the project participants' existing meters. They will record electricity consumption every 15 minutes and transmit the data in real time to Hydro-Québec.

Rate TOU+ includes a higher price during critical winter peaks. Because peaks are managed in real time, Hydro-Québec must send a signal to each meter to ensure that the peak price is applied at the appropriate time. These new meters make that possible.

Here's how it works: the signal is sent over a wireline telephone connection from the data centre to a collector. The collector sends the information by radio wave to the nearest individual meter which, in turn, relays it to its immediate neighbor. Transmission and reception of data are continuous. One collector usually serves several hundred meters within a radius of several kilometres.