Submetering Gives Power to Consumer


The Columbus Dispatch has written a number of recent stories on questionable practices by some submetering companies, but it should be remembered that the use of submeters and micro-grids in apartments and condominiums can hold tremendous benefits for consumers and the environment.

Sub-metering provides residents of multi-unit housing developments access to individualized electrical-use data through smart metering, which means a more empowered consumer. By knowing more about how they use electricity, residents of these buildings can take actions to reduce the amount of energy they waste.

Leading private and federal organizations, such as the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the White House, have found that energy usage is cut by anywhere from 20 to 40 percent when people have access to submetering. And in Ohio, when energy usage is cut, it means that we collectively rely less on the coal-fired power plants that generate about 60 percent of our electricity, and spew asthma-causing pollution in the process.

In terms of energy efficiency, knowledge is literally power.

Trish Demeter
Ohio Environmental Council

Taylor Wiff