Are 'Smart Meters' Safe?

[Zoom-boing]

Our water company is waiting for me to call to set up an appointment so they can come in and install a 'smart meter' in our basement.

Are they safe?

I ask because I saw this but . . . what's hype and what's not?

Ironically-Named ‘Smart Meters’ Prove to Be a Dumb Idea | The Blaze

 

[Anachronism]

I work for an Electric & Gas Utility company that has replaced all of our electric meters with Smart Meters and I believe is working on the Gas side as well. So far as I know, there haven't been any issues with them and EMF's or other health issues. At least nothing that I've heard or read about, and we've got a couple local papers that would LOVE to run a story like that if they caught wind of one.

My bigger concern is going to be when the Smart Grid system finally comes into place. THAT is going to be a major Pain in the Ass, or more appropriately Pain in the Wallet.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

We got them a few years back very limited range a truck drives by and gets the reading .No asshole in the back yard anymore 3 locked gates

 

[del]

i've had them for at least 10 years and never had any problems.

 

[Zoom-boing]

We got them a few years back very limited range a truck drives by and gets the reading .No asshole in the back yard anymore 3 locked gates

I called them a bit ago to make the appointment. Apparently they just need to change the meter that's inside the house but the RF reader thingy (why yes, that actually is a technical term) is outside. Which is fine. Of course they didn't make that very clear in the letter they sent.

 

[Anachronism]

I called them a bit ago to make the appointment. Apparently they just need to change the meter that's inside the house but the RF reader thingy (why yes, that actually is a technical term) is outside. Which is fine. Of course they didn't make that very clear in the letter they sent.

Unless they're using a very different system the radio transmitter is INSIDE the meter. It isn't a separate unit. Now, they may have a different system than we do, but then again almost all of our meters are outside to begin with.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

My concern with the smart meters is that they have the ability to raise the rates during peak usage times. In other words, those of us who live in the south and have our A/C blowing 24 hours a day for eight months out of the year are going to have considerably higher electric bills. Likewise for those in the north during the winter with the gas bills. If you are using your utilities during peak times, when everyone else is, they can charge you a higher rate. This will disproportionately hurt the poor and the middle class. This is what a lot of environmentalists are aiming for.

There has also been discussion in the UK of utilities possibly shutting down appliances in the future if you use too much energy in the name of "saving the planet."

 

[Anachronism]

My concern with the smart meters is that they have the ability to raise the rates during peak usage times. In other words, those of us who live in the south and have our A/C blowing 24 hours a day for eight months out of the year are going to have considerably higher electric bills. Likewise for those in the north during the winter with the gas bills. If you are using your utilities during peak times, when everyone else is, they can charge you a higher rate. This will disproportionately hurt the poor and the middle class. This is what a lot of environmentalists are aiming for.

There has also been discussion in the UK of utilities possibly shutting down appliances in the future if you use too much energy in the name of "saving the planet."

YEP. That's exactly what the plan is for these things. Now, the system to do that is not in place as of yet. It requires a number of pretty significant upgrades to the existing electric infastructure to be able to run that level of Smart Grid System. However, that IS what these companies are looking at in the long run. I can't speak for the Gas side of things, since that isn't my expertise.

 

[boedicca]

PG&E is considering CHARGING customers MORE to opt out of the Smart Meter program.

Ahhh...the joys of Big Government Crony Monopolies!

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers afraid of the radiation from the company's wireless SmartMeter may soon have a choice:

Accept the device as is. Or ask PG&E to turn off the meter's transmitter - and pay higher monthly bills as a result. As much as $20 more per month.

Under pressure from state regulators, PG&E introduced its long-awaited SmartMeter opt-out plan Thursday, designed to answer the fears of people who consider the radiation from cell phones, laptops and other wireless devices to be a health threat. The utility, based in San Francisco, has faced growing protests over the new electricity and gas meters, which PG&E is installing throughout Northern and Central California.

In a bid to defuse the controversy, the company suggested in November that it might offer customers a way to opt out of the $2.2 billion program. The president of the California Public Utilities Commission ordered PG&E this month to submit its plan by Thursday.

But the company's proposal, which would need the commission's approval to take effect, only angered critics further....

SmartMeters: PG&E wants to charge users to opt out

 

[Zoom-boing]

I called them a bit ago to make the appointment. Apparently they just need to change the meter that's inside the house but the RF reader thingy (why yes, that actually is a technical term) is outside. Which is fine. Of course they didn't make that very clear in the letter they sent.

Unless they're using a very different system the radio transmitter is INSIDE the meter. It isn't a separate unit. Now, they may have a different system than we do, but then again almost all of our meters are outside to begin with.

The woman I spoke with today said it's a new meter inside the house but the radio frequency part is outside of the house. I specifically asked her and will double check again with whoever shows up on Thursday. I don't know if these things are perfectly harmless or not . . . I had no idea what they were doing until just a week or two ago.

 

[Zoom-boing]

boed --- yeah I saw that article earlier. I asked the woman today if we could opt out and she got annoyed at me but never answered the question. I wonder if they're getting flak from folks? The worker guy will likely be better able to answer any questions . . . .

 

[Ravi]

i've had them for at least 10 years and never had any problems.

Welllllllllllllllllllllllll....except you didn't previously look like an emu.

 

[Anachronism]

boed --- yeah I saw that article earlier. I asked the woman today if we could opt out and she got annoyed at me but never answered the question. I wonder if they're getting flak from folks? The worker guy will likely be better able to answer any questions . . . .

Opting out is NOT something these companies are going to be willing to take lying down. Their plan is to read all these meters from a moving vehicle. If that vehicle has to constantly stop so the driver can go read an individual meter, that is an expense they don't want to have to incur. Especially since that means the meter reader has to be able to do basic math, and may have to deal directly with a customer.... something that these companies don't want. Therefore, they are going to make it very expensive and annoying for individual customers to go that route.

 

[strollingbones]

wow....it took me a minute to figure out what yall were talking about....smart meters?

i think my electric meter is one....they installed it about 4 years ago.....no more meter dude....they just ping it from the electric company.....if you call and question your bill they tell you how much you are using right then....

there is the downside of job loss but in a rural area i cant imagine the money they are saving

 

[Anachronism]

i think my electric meter is one....they installed it about 4 years ago.....no more meter dude....they just ping it from the electric company.....if you call and question your bill they tell you how much you are using right then....

there is the downside of job loss but in a rural area i cant imagine the money they are saving

You definitely have one. Apparently whatever company you have is already well into the Smart Grid system if they have immediate reading capability.

Most places don't have the telemetrics in their meters to read from their offices yet. Most are still doing it by having vehicles with reading equipment drive through the neighborhoods. That still reduces the number of meter readers needed, immensely. Used to be that a meter reader was expected to do 1 route a day. Now they can do entire towns in 2 days. BIG difference.

 

[Missourian]

Ah, the joy of living in rural Missouri.

We still read our own meter.

You simply write your meter reading in the boxes provided on your previous months bill and return it.

Same with the water meter.

 

[Anachronism]

Ah, the joy of living in rural Missouri.

We still read our own meter.

You simply write your meter reading in the boxes provided on your previous months bill and return it.

Same with the water meter.

Don't count on THAT remaining that way for too much longer, Missourian. The push is to get the entire United States onto these meters in the next 20 years. That way they can really begin the oversight of who's using how much electricity, and when.