Dive Brief:
- The Nevada Public Utilities Commission has directed NV Energy to hire an independent consultant to conduct safety tests on smart meters, following concerns they may present a fire hazard.
- In a letter to the utility, PUC staff asked for confirmation that each of the "consumed meters" — the 77 that caught on fire — failed to send a high temperature alarm. NV Energy says it cannot determine the cause of 20 of the 77 meter fires.
- Safety officials in Reno and Sparks, Nev., last year petitioned regulators to investigate meters following nine fires which may have been linked to residential meters.
Dive Insight:
Nevada's investigation into the safety of smart meters appears to be focusing on the meters' failure to send a high temperature alarm. The state opened an inquiry into the meters following a series of fires last year, most of which caused minimal damage.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that NV Energy no longer responds to high temperature warnings because they can be improperly triggered by direct sunlight.
There have been 1.1 million smart meters installed in NV Energy's service territory since 2011, and of those the utility has reported 77 of those meters "consumed," which means the casing on the meters was either melted or breached.
In the Feb. 3 letter to NV Energy, staff directed the company to hire Underwriters Laboratory to conduct third-party testing on the meters.
