Attn. PECO: Please book an Obscured By Clouds-era Pink Floyd cover band to play up here. Thank you.

PECO has been going all out in its latest green initiative: First, it replaced the incandescent bulbs with LEDs atop its offices last month to much fanfare. That signage is nice to look at, but its measurable benefit to the public is probably rather ambiguous. At the same time, PECO also installed a grass-covered, runoff-reducing 45,000 square foot “green roof” on its offices (pictured), which will be open for tours on September 16 and October 21. (Awesome.)

Now, PECO is planning to do something that has more concrete benefits to those of us still stuck ‘on the grid’: Its new agenda, pending governmental approval and matching funds, calls for the installation of “smart” electricity meters on houses, which will allow customers to read their meters, regulate air temperature, and control appliances online. This carefully-controlled electricity will be disbursed to customers over a new “smart grid” network incorporating fiber optic and wireless components; though details are still unclear, the smart meters are expected to be able to communicate back-and-forth with the grid, presumably resulting in more efficient power usage. Honestly, how many of us ever take the time to read our electricity meters? Much like online banking has made us more conscious of monitoring our accounts and activity, taking power meters online sounds like a great way to boost awareness of individual power usage. And we’re really impressed with the green roof, too. As the recent weather has shown, post-storm runoff can lead to flooding in areas with inadequate greenery, so installing grass and gardens on rooftops seems like an excellent solution to that growing problem. PECO, our relationship may sometimes be rocky, but it’s times like this that make it all worth it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 12:25 pm.