Saturday, December 18, 2010

Post # 54: A California Smart Meter "Opt-Out"?

In one of the latest examples of consumer-driven push back against smart meters in California (see, for example, here and here), California Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-Marin County) last week introduced a legislation (Bill AB 37) that would enable consumer to decline the smart meter installation.

According to Mr. Huffman’s statement on the proposed legislation, Bill AB 37 directs the California Public Utilities Commission to provide an “opt-out” alternative for customers who do not wish to have a smart meter installed – and to require that utilities make this option available using “wired technology that provides equivalent smart grid reliability and efficiency.”

The opt-out “alternative,” however, is not defined in the bill. Rather, AB 37 directs that by January I, 2012, the CPUC must identify alternative options for customers that decline smart meter installation and “ensure that these options are made available to customers.”

The bill also directs that utilities disclose the timing, magnitude, frequency and duration of radio frequency (RF) emissions. Finally, AB 37 directs that the CPUC temporarily suspend smart meter deployment until this opt-out alternative is in place.

In his statement, Mr. Huffman says his bill “is about giving consumers reasonable choices. Whether or not you believe RF exposures from Smartmeters are harmful, it’s only fair that consumers who are concerned about health effects be given complete technical information and the choice of another technology for devices that are installed at their homes.”

The prospects for this bill are not certain – Assembly Member Huffman represents one of localities where resistance to smart meters has been most vocal, and it is unclear how much overall support AB 37 will have in the California legislature.

Moreover, by tying the “opt-out” provision to some undefined “equivalent” alternative, this bill demonstrates the potential conflict between consumer “empowerment” and efforts to achieve energy efficiency. As one commentator has noted, “[t]he bill may offer some sense of control for consumers over how their utility information is gathered, but it could also change the effectiveness of an integrated smart grid if chunks of consumers choose not to participate.”

Of course, and this appears true of most smart meter debates in the United States, consumers generally become part of the serious debate only against the backdrop of ongoing utility smart meter installation. When the history of smart grid development is written, I expect that the record will demonstrate that utilities should have engaged their customers on these issues prior to smart meter roll outs.

3 comments:

  1. A SECOND OPINION.

    PG&E will make HUGE money on WIRELESS smart meters and if you truly study the details closely, there are NO ADVANTAGES for customers, only disadvantages.

    1. Utility Rates are going up as soon as Smart Meters installation is completed.

    2. Wireless smart meters do NOT give customers information they can use to lower their bills - that is a PG&E lie. They only show past usage and getting past usage every day or at the end of the month is no difference.

    Other inexpensive meters that give real time usage (right-now readings) are infinitely better. Wireless smart meters require going on-line and having to analyze bar graphs of PAST information.

    3. PRIVACY - PG&E will know what you do, when you do it and so will other commercial companies, police and burglars that hack wireless information to know which days and times they can comfortably enter your home.

    4. SECURITY - Wireless simply cannot achieve the security of wired systems.

    5. HEALTH PROBLEMS - At the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Nov 18, a dozen world renowned scientists reported THEIR TESTS found small amounts of pulsed signal radiation (the kind coming from wireless smart meters) damaging cells, breaking DNA chains and breaking the blood / brain barrier (it allows things to reach your brain that your brain is normally protected from).

    This trumps, replaces and disproves the INDUSTRY "Scientists" that told us they cannot find any damage. When honest qualified people tell us and show us they found our wallet, it doesn't matter how many others said they couldn't find it.

    WIRELESS smart meters are worse than other wireless devices because:
    1. We cannot shut them off.
    2. They run all night while we and our children need quiet "Electric time" for our bodies to recover and children's bodies to recover, grow and develop.
    3. All other wireless devices are optional, but wireless smart meters are being FORCED onto our homes.

    PG&E will save millions of dollars eliminating jobs of thousands of meter readers, and none of those savings will be shared with customers. The Utility Company will also save millions of dollars by not paying for a shielded cable infrastructure to safely carry utility signals and shield people, pets, animals, birds and bees from the radiation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SCIENTISTS AND REAL PEOPLE REPORTING - QUITE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT PG&E TELLS US.

    1. Insurance Companies Won't Insure Wireless Device Risks (3 minutes, 13 seconds)
    http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=382

    2. Microwave radiation dangers in our home (6 minutes, 20 seconds)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAnrmJ3un1g

    3. WiFi in schools proven dangerous (14 minutes, 32 seconds)
    http://www.youtube.com/safeschool#p/u/3/KN7VetsCR2I

    4. Truth about Smart Meters - Dr. Karl Maret, MD, Biomedical Engineer
    (Dr. Maret's presentation begins at 23:40 on the video telecast).
    http://www.communitytv.org/programs/online/truth-about-smart-meters

    5. Radiation Measured From Smart Meter Mounted On A Home (6 minutes, 21 seconds)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRejDxBE6OE

    6. Skyrocketing Utility Bills after smart meter installation (3 minutes, 19 seconds)
    http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/63581287.html?tab=video

    7. Wounded by Wireless Smart Meters (14 minutes, 19 seconds)
    http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=840

    ReplyDelete
  3. Environmentalism is a HOAX
    Environmentalism.com home
    http://www.environmentalism.com/

    George Soros funded ..Agenda 21
    Watch..
    Agenda 21 For Dummies -
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM

    YouTube - The second amendment can stop Agenda 21 (1 of 3)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeyf8LriKII&feature=related

    You Tube - AGENDA 21
    Agenda 21 explained very well. Including implications it will have on humanity. Opinions within the video come in some cases from those that ...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFF...

    We should not have or need any of this so called smart stuff

    Radio show of Commonwealth Club..
    HEALTH PROBLEMS - At the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Nov 18, a dozen world renowned scientists reported THEIR TESTS found small amounts of pulsed signal radiation (the kind coming from wireless smart meters) damaging cells, breaking DNA chains and breaking the blood / brain barrier (it allows things to reach your brain that your brain is normally protected from).
    google the subject if link doesn't work.

    Below..Like him or not..in link..this is informative...education is everything...
    we have a lot to lose..
    http://www.larouchepac.com/node/18831?nid=18831&lid=1-1-0-1-0

    ReplyDelete