Smart Meters: A Failure to Communicate

...anything that "looks" like government and says "...trust me..." is, in my mind, nothing but a poorly disguised crook...ie: IRS in different clothes!

...I pay for their product, they do NOT need any MORE information beyond address and start/stop values...nothing more.

I don't think the communications system is the issue its the 'who is monitoring what I am doing' part that people don't like. I like having my power company remote read my KWH meter every month now. It saves me time and fines for not reporting it every month like they used to. After that I don't want them watching me to see what possible peak power demand or whatI may have running in order to charge me a high peak usage fee.

I have a work shop and I do metal work fairly often which means I have higher powered welders, plasma cutters and air compressor loads that draw a lot of power but for short time periods while I work.

If they decide that I shouldn't go over a 15KW peak load without getting a $2 fine for it every time I cant do my work properly. I could mean I could be getting $200 in high usage fines every day when I am working.

Here in California the big utility PG&E is starting the installation of smart meters and billing customers following a new seemingly very secret rate schedule having to do with time of day or something like that. Presumably these rates and billing practices were approved or at least allowed by the CA Public Utilities Commission which the Republican governor has staffed with business and technical friends of the utility.

So I am sitting here waiting for installation of the smart meter at my house next spring sometime and wondering when they are going to tell us how our usage of electricity affects our bills beyond the the old count of kilowatt hours. What is the effect of time of day of usage? What is the effect of size of an individual customer's demand in watts? at any given time?

This is a big secret. I have not been able to find any quantitative guide lines. They talk about a "someday" in the future when they will be able to report usage and cost information real time to some gadget, perhaps part of a new $2000 appliance I don't need that will take 20 years to payback. Meantime all they tell us to install CFL's and think "solar". For real!! Just go look at the PG&E website. Lots of reasonably useful energy reduction tips but no visible quantitative reference to charges based on time of day or peak power levels. They do have a cute smart meter cartoon that shows an electric switch and several little 3d bar graph-like images. So you put your mouse cursor over the switch handle and pull it down. Voila!! The little bars go down and up. Wow!! Isn't technology great?

People here are being hit by inexplicable high electric bills after installation of the new meters without any reasonable explanation for the reasons to the point of launching very noisy lawsuits. I doubt if they appreciate the cartoons.......

Our local newspaper mentioned in one article the unknown gap between when we start to get charged extra for using the wrong amount of power at the wrong time and when we'll actually be able to measure ourselves what we're doing and adjust our usage accordingly. This gap looks like it will be an enormous embarrassment to anybody that touches that business and a potentially good business opportunity for clever people to produce consumer products that are capable of measuring and reporting electric power usage on a minute by minute basis so users will be able to figure out how reduce the new high charges on their electric bills.

Ed Weldon

Oh come off it Ed, time of use has been used for decades how much of an adjustment is comprehension in California?

bwire -- I'm not complaining about the time of use fee structure. What I'm complaining about is that they are telling us nothing about the specifics. What are the hours? What are the premium rates? All a big secret. Even after the meters are installed. How can anyone plan intelligently for that? When should I plan on running appliances? How much will energy conservation eforts and investments save?

Sounds to me like this is going to turn a lot of us retired folks and other stay at home types into night owls. Will it pay me to set up a generator for local peak shaving? Already my marginal electric rate of 44 cents per KWH is close to the costs of running a generator on diesel or propane. But I'd sure like to be able to do the calculations now with some degree of confidence. At this point it's all a guessing game about an unknown new technology.

Ed Weldon

Your electric power company's should be telling you the charges for the different periods surly it is your right to know this. I have had solar panels fitted recently shortly after digital meters was fitted. Then a letter from my energy provider spelling out the different periods and KWh charges.

The highest charge is 2pm to 8pm $36.64 cents/KWh weekdays, if it were not for the fact I have the solar panels and solar hot water my bill would have gone through the roof. As it is I am paying about the same as before I installed these items so I am paying more for less power and my energy provider has excess power to sell without having to fire up more generators he is definitely in a win win situation.

We have three houses in central and southern California, each has the time of use feature. I recall the peak rate/hours being between 8 A.M. & 4 P.M. in effect regular business hours. To maximize gain use major appliances outside of those hours; washing machine, clothes dryer, welder etc..

Thanks bwire. 8 to 4 is a good number to start with. I already have a timer on the hot water heater. Next in line would be a timer on my deep well pump that fills my water tank. Then we'll shift dinner cooking to a later hour and try to stay out of the refrigerator in the 8-4 slot.

I have potential for a good southern exposure for solar but the cost of removing all the trees will be more than the cost of the solar system. And I will lose the late afternoon shade from very large douglas firs southwest of the house. I'm thinking very seriously of a propane generator as a better financial bet for running air conditioning on the 100 degree plus summer afternoons.

I have a feeling that this is in the future for rural Califiornia. It will drive the greenies (with whom I to some extent agree) crazy for sure.

Ed Weldon

You're welcome Ed, if the water heater has two elements try setting the lower at 90° and the upper at 110°. The logic is often only a small amount of water is used at a time and it'll save a few bucks.

Using a thermostat with day/night settings will help that A/C sting too.

Don't worry Ed. If the gai-worshipping crackpots continue to steer the state in the direction it's going, there wont be anyone left in the state to use the over priced power anyway. California will have its statehood revoked and just become a National Wilderness Territory. Special visas and bubble suits required to visit.

As I just posted in another area, California's overly burdensome tax and regulatory climate is depopulating the state and has led to their current budget crisis. People need to understand that regulations cost freedom as well as money, and we are supposed to be a nation of individuals and not a nation of beaurecrats.

The Government answers to the Governed here, or is supposed to. Sue for the information under the Freedom of Information Act. Beat up on your state representatives and senators until you get the answers. I have better things to do too, but the current political climate is forcing my hand.

I would look into running your generator and selling excess power back to the grid if only to get their attention. Here we have an abundance of hydro and save for cost rating based on demand usage, I'd probably do as I'm advising you to do.

I'm sorry for running long and not staying strictly on topic, but I've grown tired of having things forced upon me without adequate explanation, and having people regard me as a loon for asking reasonable questions and not simply accepting their word that I must now do this or that just because they say so.