In the first place, they weren't scheduled for this county until November, per the power co's notification. More importantly, they weren't supposed to install it until you gave your verbal OK when they came to the door, because it's a political issue and potentially litigious. But the contractors are really hustling for the commission that the power co. pays for each installation.
Settling aside the allegations that these things emit harmful rays and are a riskier fire hazard than the standard meters, I can't see any benefit to the consumer. Can see benefit to the power co., e.g., they will no longer need meter readers.
On 2013-10-23, Don't smoke; eat well; exercise; die anyway Settling aside the allegations that these things emit harmful rays and are
My concern is the claims that the new meters read power consumption differently and there are many claims of them incorrectly providing higher than usual readings and charging the customer more money.
Quite frankly, I don't begrudge the power companies saving money. We spend ungodly amounts of money automating our homes and lives to save $$$. I jes don't trust the utility companies. They have PUCs for a reason, and it's not cuz the utilities are honest and fair players.
I doubt you will get very far trying to pursue any actions against them. It is their meter and they can do whatever they want with it, any time they want. The only reason they knock on your door is to warn you the power will be off a few seconds. If you don't answer, they assume nobody is home and you won't know the power was off.
They certainly don't warn you every time they cut the power anyway.
As instructed by the utility, some of the subcontractors have honored the homeowners' statements that they were "opting out" of the program. What this "opting out" will come to after all the political and legal battles have been fought is anyone's guess. One utility rep suggested that those who refuse to comply will be charged a fee for keeping their old meters. Time will tell.
Agree. And if they actually did have a program where they wouldn't change the meter unless you were at home to OK it that would seem to be one hell of a mess. What would they do? Schedule appointments? Make multiple visits because no one was home? It's reasonable to expect that power can be interrupted for a few minutes any time. If someone has special requirements so that they can't deal with that, then that is a problem beyond swapping a meter.
The only reason they knock on your door is to warn
Most people would know it's off. Every time power is off here for example, kitchen oven clock, microwave clock, radio clock, etc need to be reset.
+1
And with regard to their being no benefit to the consumer, if the cost to the utility drops because they don't have to read your meter, that's a benefit. Also, IDK what's going on in this location, but in many cases smart meters enable tiered pricing. They can now charge more during the day, ie peak, less at night. I would think that would be a plus for most consumers, as I would think most have less or no people in the house during the day, AC set higher, etc. That helps reduce the amount of power these utilities have to buy at peak periods, lowering their total cost. It could delay the need for building another power plant. It might result in higher bills though, if you do use power mostly in peak periods. It also encourage people to shift loads like WH, pool pumps, etc to off peak.
As far as emitting harmful rays, that's a new one. I don't see how this is any different than all the other wireless things already in a typical house, eg LAN, wifi hotspots, cell phone, etc.
I got a new electric meter (LCD display, and (I think) remote reading. They came to the door and (as usual for that sort of thing) gave me less than 3 seconds to answer.
You don't say where you are or which company provides the electricity.. I haven't been following this, but the guy was just finishing doing the same to my meter when I happened by. He said they would put the old one back if I called. This is BGE in Maryland. I think I heard it's undecided yet if there's a charge, but I doubt there will be.
What are these harmful rays? Do you mean two minutes a day of a signal something like a cell phone signal? Except the transmitter won't be next to your ear and won't be in your pocket or on your dashboard. Most of the time it will be 10, 20, 30 feet away. Why would that worry anyone?
The benefit to the consumer is that now they pay the same all day long for electicity. Once there are enough meters, there will be a lower rate during off-peak hours. If you dry your clothes at 9PM or on weekends, you'll save money.
Once there are enough meters, there will be a lower
Yes that is the theory... Once you have a smart meter you have to ask for TIME OF USE billing and if you can manage your usage properly in theory you can save $.
So far PECO is putting in the smart meters but has NOT offered TIME OF USE billing. Go figure.
I would just assume they were switching stuff around the grid and it was a glitch like we see once a week or so all summer. I have anything I really care about on a UPS. The only clock I have that blinks 1200 is on the coffee maker and we have never set that one, The rest are either battery operated or have a backup battery.
I do agree there is some federal money going into the smart meter, part of the smart grid initiative but the PoCo is really doing this for their own benefit They get better metering, lose the meter readers and get to remove all of those worn out analog meters that were under reporting usage.
They also have he ability to shut off your power remotely if they want but I still doubt those contacts will open under a significant load that many times before they burn up.
I'm wondering if the same FCC rules concerning unlicensed low power transmitters apply to smart meters? It's the part of the regulations stating that the low power device may not interfere with licensed equipment but must accept interference from other sources. I seem to recall a printed insert in the box with all low power RF equipment I've ever purchased. Perhaps a piece of experimental computer gear that just happened to but not intentionally jams the smart meter signal could be a great form of civil disobedience? ^_^
, per the power co's notification. More importantly, they weren't supposed to install it until you gave your verbal OK when they came to the door, bec ause it's a political issue and potentially litigious. But the contractors are really hustling for the commission that the power co. pays for each ins tallation. Settling aside the allegations that these things emit harmful ra ys and are a riskier fire hazard than the standard meters, I can't see any benefit to the consumer. Can see benefit to the power co., e.g., they will no longer need meter readers. More control from Big Brother exerting his wi ll.
Yes, the FCC rules do apply to smart meters. However, I'm not sure if the Part15 residential rules or the Part 18 Industrial, scientific, and medical rules apply. I would guess the Part 15 residential requirements would app ly for interference to nearby "things". But if a person uses a cellphone f or even a minute a month, they are getting a lot more radio-frequency radia tion than they would get from a smart meter, even if they were inside the h ouse on the wall opposite where the smart meter was located on the outside. I think those people suffer from "electrophobia".
We had a lot of protesters here in Napervlle, IL, when the smart meters wer e starting up. The protesters would even talk on their cellphones while th ey were protesting, it was rediculous.
By "lower" I meant lower than another rate. Of course inflation and possibly other things will push rates up, but by encouraging people to use electricity during off-peak hours, everyone will save money compared to the alternative rate, and compared to the alternative system that we have now. .
The alternative exists now, when, in order to avoid brown-outs and power failures, the electric companies have to have generating power to supply almost everything at once, all the offices and factories that run during the day and anyone at home running the oven, the dryer, the AC.
If they can get some of that to be used during the evening and night, and lower the peak demand (which I believe is on weekday afternoons) they won't need so many electric plants, generators, etc.
It's like the situation of someone who has only one car and wants one that carries 6 people for the times he has 5 other people, but usually drives alone or with one other. He has to buy a much bigger car, use much more gas all the time, just for those occasions when he has 4 or
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