SmarterMeter - the smarter way to read your PG&E SmartMeter

So I have PG&E SmartMeter and I like playing with data. However I didn't really want to jump through 37 hoops to see the data on PG&E's website. So I made this.

While making this library I discovered that PG&E doesn't even manage the software for the energy reporting. It's all done by energyguide.com. Not terribly useful but an interesting piece of trivia.

Getting Started

gem install smartermeter
smartermeter

Manipulating the data

After you've successfully downloaded one set of data, you should be able to manipulate it using ruby like so:

require 'rubygems'
require 'smartermeter'

config = YAML.load_file(File.expand_path("~/.smartermeter"))
csv_file = Dir.glob(File.join(config[:data_dir], "*.csv")).last

samples = SmarterMeter::Samples.parse_csv(csv_file)
kwh_used = samples.total_kwh
api = SmarterMeter::Services::BrighterPlanet.new
puts api.calculate_kg_carbon(kwh_used)

For futher information see the API docs

Google PowerMeter

Once you've configured SmarterMeter once, you might want to use it with Google PowerMeter.

  1. Visit: https://www.google.com/powermeter/device/activate?mfg=Ruby&model=SmarterMeter&did=PGE&dvars=1
  2. Then sign in with your desired Google Account.
  3. Follow the directions on screen.
  4. On the final screen copy the entire "authInfo" into your favorite editor. Pull out the "token" and the "path" from the string.
  5. Take the "path" you collected previously and append ".d1" to the end of it.

  6. Then append the following to your ~/.smartermeter file to automatically upload data as it's retrieved from PG&E.

    :transport: :google_powermeter :google_powermeter: :token: "your-token" :variable: "your-path-with.d1-appended"

To Build the Windows Installer

In order to build the self contained binaries, you'll need Java 1.6 and (NSIS)1, both of which are available as packages in Ubuntu.

apt-get install nsis sun-java6-jre
git clone git://github.com/mcolyer/smartermeter.git
cd smartermeter
bundle install --path vendor/gems
rake package

The installer will be generated in pkg/

Questions

  • How much lag is there?

It'll show you the last full day's worth of data. The PGE website claims that data becomes available around 3-10pm on the following day. However my experience says that it's sometimes available earlier.

  • How long is data saved for?

I don't know. If you know tell me.

  • How can I help?

Make sure it works, make cool things with it or send me git pull requests.

Sponsorship

I would like to thank Brighter Planet for including SmarterMeter as part of their Fellowship Program