Opelika leaders field questions on smart grid, telecommunications proposal

During the Opelika City Council meeting Tuesday, Opelika residents will get to ask questions and voice their opinion about the city’s plans to form its own telecommunications company. The decision on whether to proceed with those plans will go to the voters in a referendum Aug. 10.

Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and Opelika Light and Power Director Derek Lee fielded questions from Opelika-Auburn News reporter Donathan Prater about what Opelika’s future might hold if voters approve the measure, making Opelika the first community in the state to have so-called “Fiber Optics to the Home.”

Q: What do you hope will come out of the public hearing?

A: “All I’ve heard thus far about this from citizens has been positive,” Fuller said. “A vote for this will not only create competition for Charter, but will also serve to move Opelika forward in what we’ll be able to do with smart grid and what this technology will mean for economic development.”

Q: One of the items to be discussed is a proposal authorizing the city “to acquire, establish, purchase, construct, maintain, lease and operate telecommunications systems and equipment and other related facilities, including particularly (but without limitation) a new municipal fiber network system useful for smart grid applications ...”  What does the phrase “without limitation” mean?

A: “If you’re a Charter customer, the current delivery method to the home is through coax (coaxial cable) or copper,” Fuller said. “We will be using fiber that is run to the home, which of course is glass. A piece of fiber the size of a human hair will probably be large enough to handle every telephone call that’s going on in the city of Opelika at this very moment.”

Q: What is smart grid?

A: “Smart grid will allow us to control certain appliances such as a hot water heater or air conditioner during times of peak electricity demand,” Fuller said. “That same smart grid fiber has additional capacity, which is where cable TV and phone services can be offered.”

Q: How will this smart grid be constructed and how will this fiber be run to Opelika homes?

A: “We’ve already had a fiber ring around the city for a number of years, but what our goal is is to be able to serve every home and business within the corporate limits of Opelika,” Fuller said. “Smart grid will be available to all Opelika citizens.”

Q: What are some of the other advantages of deploying smart grid technology?

A: “Power outages and monitoring of substations can be done more easily,” Fuller said. “If for instance, 500 homes are without power, our engineers will be able to restore it from a computer by switching homes to an alternate substation.”

Q: What will be done with any profits generated by a city-owned telecommunications service?

A: “Any money earned beyond operating costs and allocations for capital items and expenditures, those monies will go right back into the general fund to support things like our schools, public safety and other essential services for our citizens,” Fuller said.

Q: Will smart grid be optional for citizens or will this fiber be run to all Opelika homes regardless?

A: “The fiber will pass all Opelika homes, but if folks wish to be a part of the smart grid, then it will require us to make a connection near the meter at their home if they want cable, Internet or phone services.”

Q: The smart grid will allow Opelika Light & Power to collect real time data from homes and business using smart meters at each location. What are smart meters and what kind of data will these meters be collecting?

A: “A smart meter is a device that converts information into a digital signal through a median that transmits information like voltage and peak demand for electricity,” Lee said.

 “What you will be able to do if you’re a customer of our system, is turn on your television and look at how much power you’re consuming at your home that very minute in dollars and cents,” Fuller said.

Q: Smart grid will allow Opelika Light & Power to turn on and off certain appliance and inform customers when peak rates are in effect. Does this mean that the power company will actually turn off appliances in their homes?

A: “Only if a customer signs up for this,” Lee said. “We will not go into a customer’s home or turn off any appliance if they are not signed up for that service. We would have to physically install a device that we could control through our system.”

Q: If Opelika citizens vote in favor of creating a city-owned telecommunications service on Aug.10, when do you project the first customers will receive service?

A: “Fall 2012 would be our realistic projection for when the first customers would receive service depending on how quickly the project can be financed,” said Lee.

Q: Where do things stand with Opelika and companies like Charter Communications and Knology?

A: We’ve sent the proposed Knology franchise agreement to our consultant in Birmingham and it will contain similar language to what we have in the proposed new Charter franchise agreement,” Fuller said. “Charter has been operating month-to-month since their agreement expired in December, and I feel we’re close to Charter signing the new agreement, but if our citizens approve this on Aug.10, we’re going to build our system regardless of what Knology and Charter may or may not do.”

Q: What will happen if Opelika’s citizens vote against a proposed city-owned telecommunications company?

A: “If our citizens don’t vote for it, then we’re not going to do it. It’s just as simple as that,” Fuller said.

Q: How do you feel about companies like Knology potentially coming to the area and bringing competition to the telecommunications market?

A: “If we get started with our system and Knology wants to come in, that would be great. We’ll go from one service provider to three providers, but we’re determined to do this,” Fuller said.

Q: How much will a city-owned telecommunications company cost?

A: “We project that the actual system including a new building for Opelika Light & Power will cost between $32 million and $34 million,” Fuller said. “The last several bids we’ve made have come in lower than what the projections were.”

Q: How will the project be funded?

A: “If the project is approved, we’ll do a revenue bond issue, which is how most large projects are financed by cities or the state,” Fuller said.

Q: Will the city be able to track the programming I watch through a smart grid system?

A: “No. we’re not interested in that,” Fuller said.