Is the Smart Grid Just Hype?

NO!

Spencer.

I already try to use power efficiently to minimize my costs. Would I run my dryer at night to save pocket change? Maybe if it was not inconvenient. We already have self-reading meters. What I fear the most about "smart grid" is that it can be hacked by terrorists and shut down. Then we'll have out-smarted ourselves, and we'll all be in the dark. If hackers can get into Pentagon computers, a power grid should be a piece of cake. Smart Grid should have manual over-ride features!

Given that my wife and I already shut it off if it's not being used, and the compact fluorescents didn't help and didn't last, I fail to see how a "smart" meter is going to help us.

Besides, if I break something and have to weld it together, I'm not waiting until midnight to do it.

What is new is old again. Or something like that. When I was a wee lad (1960's), my home had two electric meters. One was for the 80 gallon hot water heater bottom element. The other meter supplied electricity for the rest of the house and the top element for the water heater. The local municipal electric company gave you much, much cheaper electric rates for the off-peak power supplied during the nighttime hours which was controlled by a timer for the heating of bulk water (or whatever other loads you wanted on those timed circuits). If somehow you managed to use all that hot water before the next off-peak period, the top element would kick on with the normal rates. My dad told me that system once installed cut our monthly electric bill by 25-30% on average. For a thrifty yankee, that was almost nirvana, especially since I was the youngest of six children.

So, in a word, yes. I'd be happy to do that, BUT I want appliances smart enough to "talk" to the grid and know when to run, so I don't have to be up at 1:30 in the morning to start the dryer.

I think there is going to be a huge impact on the consumer if this smart grid does get put into play. With the new "green energy" becoming a big factor in the US, the electric companies will end up being required to purchase "green energy" along with their current forms of energy. If this ever becomes the case, where does the price difference go? To the consumer, of course. With this smart grid, the electric companies will be able to tell how much power your using at what time, and charge you according. They will adopt a portfolio for their energy costs, and pass it on to the customers. Peak time power usage will probably skyrocket.

It will not matter how much the smart grid costs in the long run, the customers will end up paying for it anyways. Whether it is in up front charges for the new grid, or increased rates...

Our analog meter was replaced by a digital meter a couple years ago and ever since our electric bills have skyrocketed from about $300.00 a month to over $600.00 a month. If this is what smart grid technology is about I can do without it.

Something that might have been a cause to that is the fact the old analog meters, over time, slow down. So, you were not paying for all of the electricity you were using. I'm not saying the rates did not go up, or that was the whole issue. I'm just saying the old analog meters did start slowing down over time.

Really? The first year my wife and I put up a serious Christmas light display, primarily C9s and C7s, the electric company came out and put cup oilers on the meter. About $150 - $200 for lights that month.

Cup oilers? Do you mean capacitor? If you had a big Christmas light display the electric company might have put a capacitor on your line to correct the power factor from the big inductive load you put on. That wouldn't tell them if your meter is running slow or not. I believe the only way to tell is to pull the meter, and check it back at the department where they have the tools to compare readings.

That's a joke son, that's a joke.

Foghorn Leghorn

Really.. Xmas lights are an inductive load? I better go back to school.