Thank you very much for the question.
We have been asking about CCA rates for smart meters and for advanced metering infrastructure for a couple of years. And while on the surface it appears to be an incentive rate, the more I've looked at these specific issues, the more it's looking like a 45% rate is a lot more like the useful life of some of this equipment.
I spent last week with metering specialists from across the country to discuss a whole series of issues, and among them was how long these meters and this infrastructure are going to last. The responses I've been getting from the people in the field is that these are essentially computers. They're currently being treated like poles from the CCA rate perspective, but these are essentially IT devices and IT computers, which, depending on your particular computer, will last you a couple of years. But there are some portions on these devices that require upgrading even more frequently than that, software and the firmware sometimes as frequently as six months to one year. So while we are positioning this as an incentive rate, I think it also more accurately reflects the useful life of the equipment.
In terms of how these devices are important in the area of energy efficiency, one of the things many companies—and not just the companies themselves, but many people—would like to be able to do is to have time of use rates, variable rates on electricity depending on the demand curve. To do that, you need this sort of electronic infrastructure to send those signals back so that when the peak is particularly high, and therefore the power is more expensive, the customer can opt to economize during those periods of time and use the power when the price is lower.
So it acts as a peak shaver and a valley filler in terms of a demand curve. It gives the customer greater control over what they're paying, and then ultimately, as a result, it gives them the tools to be able to use their energy more efficiently and more wisely.