New electric meters

[Grumpycat]

Those new smart meters are scary.
While they can take readings for billing they also can be programmed to read consumption at peek hours etc.
I suspect they will soon start charging based demand during peak times.
Already the want us to do washing at night and cooking at mid day with timers.

The alternative is that they will charge peak rate 24 hours/day.

The meter has its own clock and knows to count kWh separately for different times of the day.

What disturbs me is that they made us pay for that meter with a special rate increase.
Any other enterprise would invest their own money to increase their profitability.

Hey, will Esso buy me a new car in order to sell more gas?

Dumb electronic meters are about $15 each. A smart meter with cell data radio can be $100 but few are cellular, most use unlicensed low power bands similar to WiFi, Bluetooth, cordless phones, and garage door openers. Some can use each other to relay data to a central collection point. Some rely on a mobile reader possibly at the street.

If you had a rate hike to support "smart metering" then you were ripped off by ignorant public service commission government bureaucrats who were fooled by the utility.

 

[jaydee325]

To those of you who deride the rate electric making process of your public service commission, have you ever followed a rate case from beginning to end and provided comment through the public comment process?

Just wondering.