Just said NO to 'Smrt' Meters

[NAB]

From my perspective as a BC Hydro customer, I have no say at all regarding the add-ons and taxes applied to my electric bills, nor for that matter the rates I am charged for what I consume. The only thing I have control over is how much I consume, if any at all. Smartmeters will simply nudge me to try and do my consuming at different times than I currently do if possible, with the hope I may pay a bit less than I otherwise would - and in all probability the rates and add-ons and taxes will continue to rise and offset the fruits of any of my efforts to shift timing of use anyway. It's a no win for most residential consumers unless they can find a way to reduce consumption, even find a way to live without BC Hydro supplied electricity at all.

Welcome to the 21st century, or is it the 17th century?

Nab

[bcpaul]

Smart meters are are all about charging people more.

[NAB]

Well, actually rising rates are all about charging people more, smartmeters are all about charging people more FOR LESS.

Nab

[GrooveTunes]

People should worry about being ripped off by the Liberals making their buddies rich instead of complaining about smart meters.

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Hydro+awash+private+power/6604416/story.html

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Somebody got an answer from Hydro:

I wrote to BC Hydro expressing my concerns about heath, cost and privacy regarding smart meters, and also about possible reprocussions for asking them to leave my anolog meter in place, here's the response:





Thank you for contacting us regarding BC Hydro’s Smart Metering Program.

The electricity grid is the backbone of our economy and supports our quality of life in BC. BC Hydro is in the midst of updating and upgrading the province’s electricity system to ensure that it can meet the needs of our customers all over the province. Updating the BC Hydro meters – which measure the flow of electricity and manage the quality of power being delivered to homes – is an important part of this overall investment into our system.



New meters communicate using radio signals which are common to our everyday lives and have been used safely for decades. Wireless technology is used by radios, emergency services and transportation infrastructure to name a few.



The safety of smart meters has been confirmed by independent health and science authorities including B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Health Canada and the World Health Organization.



Our new meters will be active for less than one minute per day. In fact, the total exposure to radio frequency from a BC Hydro smart meter at a distance of 20 centimeters - over its entire 20 year life span - is equivalent to the exposure from a single 30 minute cell phone call.



In addition, Planetworks Consulting, a North Vancouver engineering firm, has conducted independent testing confirming that BC Hydro’s new meters communicate for about 1.4 seconds per day and at 20 centimetres from the meter, the average strength of a meter is approximately 50 per cent of the strictest standards in the world.



More information about smart meters and radiofrequency, including the independent studies, can be found here.



BC Hydro’s new meters will allow for automated meter reading. This will eliminate inaccurate meter readings and estimated bills. In addition, customers will be able to see if their equalized payments are keeping up with their overall consumption.



Our new meters will enable new conservation tools, like a free and secure online account, that will provide you with up-to-date information about your power use. Knowing how you use energy can help you conserve by putting you and your family in control. In fact, research has shown that these new tools can help you conserve up to 15 per cent of your energy, saving you money on your BC Hydro bill.


All meters – whether they are analog, digital or smart meters – are regulated by Measurement Canada, a federal consumer protection agency, and certified for accuracy.



Protecting our customers’ privacy is a top priority. The new meters do not provide BC Hydro with real-time consumption information. They record total energy consumption on an hourly basis and cannot identify the specific appliance or activity that used the energy. This is the same type of information that the old meters have always collected. The new meters also measure the voltage being delivered to your home or business as an indicator of power quality.



Your information will remain private and secure with the new smart metering system because:


•Smart meters do not contain personally-identifiable information. The only information stored on the meter is hourly consumption information. The information is encrypted much like online banking.
•Smart meters cannot detect what appliances you are using or when. Smart meters only measure how much energy a home used or generated in total. This is the same information we have always collected, just more frequently – up to three or four times per day rather than once every two months.
•BC Hydro does not sell or disclose personal information to third parties. The information collected will be handled in accordance with the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act – just as it is now with your existing meter.

· The smart metering system uses multiple layers of security. Multiple layers of security ensure that any single point of vulnerability will remain contained and will not compromise the overall system. We have hired online experts to test our systems and develop the strongest possible protections



While BC Hydro does not have an opt-out option for the Smart Metering Program, your concerns have been noted on your account and the smart meter installation for your home has been delayed until we communicate with you further. We do not have an opt out option because old meters are not compatible with the new smart grid. In addition, it would be extremely costly to maintain two different networks.



I have also attached two PDF documents, ‘Understanding Radio Frequency and BC Hydro’s Smart Meters’ and BC Centre for Disease Control’s “Measurement of Radio Frequency (RF) Emissions from BC Hydro Smart Meters and an Associated Collector” .



If you would like to discuss your specific concerns or questions, please feel free to contact us any time at 1-866-535-5505 .



BC Hydro is committed to providing accurate information about the Smart Metering Program, and all current information about program can be found at bchydro.com/smartmeters.


Sincerely,


Shirley

Smart Metering Specialist Team

Smart Metering Program

BC Hydro l

P: 1-800-224-9376

[NAB]

Updating the BC Hydro meters – which measure the flow of electricity and manage the quality of power being delivered to homes – is an important part of this overall investment into our system.

The new meters also measure the voltage being delivered to your home or business as an indicator of power quality.

These two quotes interest me, as I have in the past wondered if, and in what way if so, aspects of the "quality" of the power delivered to my home might influence my consumption readings. There have been numerous occasions in recent years when my consumption over a period of a single day or even up to over a week or more just didn't make sense based on my activities (usually much higher than what I would expect based on long term history and related activity logs).

I do note, since the installation of my smartmeter, that the readings seem to be more uniform than with my previous analog meter, and more in line with what I would expect in terms of consumption response based on my specific activities on any particular day.

Nab

[NAB]

My experience so far.....

[twobits]

Holyyyyy Nab, interesting but you should try fishin or gardening to fill some retirment hours.

[NAB]

LOL twobits. It's really no big deal timewise at all. I simply read the meter once a day on my way in at ~4PM (I pass right by it on the way to the door), add the daily reading to an Excel spreadsheet the next time I am at my computer, and the computer/spreadsheet does the rest. Total time out of my day to keep track of it no more than 5 minutes :-)

Nice thing about it is the information has a monetary payback if used to advantage since it was a necessary project in order to help others make decisions as to spending money on reno's and energy upgrades. Proved to myself (and many others) that I had good reason to be very suspicious about Government, Energy Companies, and industry boffins marketing hype ;-)

It will be even better once the smartmeter program is fully operational. :)

Nab

[NAB]

Today was just "baseline" (8 KwH's - computers, TV, hot water, security system, fridge, some electric edge trimming in the yard. No cooking, laundry, lights, dishwasher, or RV power plugged in, etc.) Tomorrow gonna do all those things so just watch how this smartmeter reacts when I post tomorrows results. Even gonna take a 20 minute shower, plug in the RV to charge the batteries, do some laundry, and run the electric oven for several hours to cook a ham and make rice pudding :-) Hell, I might even splurge and put a couple of slices of bread in the toaster at breakfast and perk some coffee ;-)



Edit 24 hours later: Well, there we have it - catching up on cooking and 2 loads of laundry, some battery charging and a bit of party n stuff. Ol smartmeter was really cranking today to the tune of 24 KwH's over baseline usage of 8 KwH's.

Nab

[Popeye69]

Lol I wonder now Nab if your gonna get a $1000 bill in the mail for your little splurge day lol

[NAB]

Lol. Well if I do it ain't gonna get paid :-) I will consume +/- 750 KwH's of electricity in the current two month billing period. That's $51.00 worth for 2 months, or 25.50 per month, ......or 84 cents worth per day. Jeesh, just think. If I switched to CFL or LED light bulbs instead of incandescent ones I might even be able save another penny worth of consumption and get it down to 83 cents a day ;-)

Nab

[NAB]

Well, bill covering the conversion period in my area is in and I must say I am quite happy with the results of my efforts and the accuracy of my new meter. I cannot imagine what someone must be doing to consume 500 to a thousand dollars or more worth of electricity a month, unless they perhaps have an electric vehicle or two on a charging station and a dozen teenage kids hanging out there all the time, or perhaps operating a residential MJ grow op without a meter bypass... ;-)





Nab

[zookeeper]

I cannot imagine what someone must be doing to consume 500 to a thousand dollars or more a month worth of electricity,
Nab

Lights on day and night, 3 air conditioners going all day with windows open, separate meals for everyone (I won't eat that!!), tons of laundry (dirty or not), 4 televisions in the house (several gaming devices).... $500 bucks!!! Happened to my friend when the family moved in

[NAB]

Smart meter error reports are rare, BC Hydro says

Only six bills skewed by faulty devices as switchover total nears 1.4 million

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/20 ... story.html