Posted on 03/22/2012 4:27:29 PM PDT by Libertynotfree
We the below refuse to pay any additional fees to retain our analog meters or have smart meters that were installed without our permission replaced with a safe, reliable analog.
Please spread the word and have everyone you know sign this Petition.
(Excerpt) Read more at naturalremediesmatter.com ...
Our meters have a display (LCD) that cycles between various readings, and one of them is instantaneous demand. It would depend on the model you have.
Uh, no. All of our electric meter models can be ordered with internal disconnect contactors. We have a patented method that reduces arcing on disconnect.
Power is disconnected, of course, if you don't pay, and every state has different laws on when power can be disconnected by a utility.
As to the load-shedding functions (e.g., air conditioning compressor or pool pump disconnect), you have to opt in to that. It doesn't make sense at my house (we homeschool and someone is always here), so I didn't opt into it, even though we have a smart meter. Even if you do, you can go out and push a button, and the pool pump or whatever will come back on.
Ironically, the smart meter at my house is made by my competitor. Uggh.
Which is exactly why they should be going to electronic meters.
I know you don't understand the electric biz, so I will explain. AC electricity can't be efficiently stored like gas or water can. So, when demand gets high (e.g., middle of the day), additional generating capacity must be brought on-line, OR loads must be reduced ("shed" we call it) to balance supply and demand. If neither is done, line voltage and/or frequency will sag; both stress out transformers.
Electric utilities use smart meters to know the onset of peak demand, so they can decide to shed loads with companies and people who have agreed to have that equipment (e.g., aluminum foundries), or bring on-line natural-gas generators (very expensive per kWH).
Electronic meters reduce the overall cost of electricity to the consumer. Analog meters cannot report peak demand, and therefore do not help the utility decide when to load-shed or bring additional capacity on-line. If I was an electric utility, I would charge an extra fee for every analog meter. But then I understand what electronic meters can do for my customer.
i’ve been fighting pg&e smart meters since their inception.
You are lucky. Where I live we had no option, looked out one day and the power co. were installing the new meter. And now I learn we will be paying what they call, ‘peak power”. April first, from nine cent per kilowatt to twenty seven cent per kilowatt from the hours of four PM to twelve midnight.
We are part of TVA which uses coal fired power plants. Obrainless has ordered all Coal fired plants closed within the next two years. I suppose we will have to learn to crawl onto a rock to stay warm during the Winter months, and find a cave to stay cool in the Summer?
My objection is this:
As it stands, I get a certain amount of electricity at the base rate, over the base it costs a bit more, and over that I pay the highest rate. By being careful I can keep my bills down. The “smart” meter charges the highest rate at the time of day I need it most. No matter how careful I am, I pay the highest rate. It was designed to be thus. It is nothing more than a way for Edison to rip me off. I will die of a heat stroke before I die of any EMP-caused cancer.
We've got the Itron brand meter. I can't go out and stare at it because it's raining and I don't want to get wet, but it does have several dsiplays that automatically scroll. Instantaneous demand isn't one of them, IIRC (going by memomory here). I've visited the MfR's web site but not lately.
Our data is sent back to the power board through fiber, the same fiber on which the "smart grid" (also known as "automatic sectionalizing system" in the old days) and my high-speed internet communicates. We're supposed to have online availability of a much greater amount of information soon, but it isn't available yet.
Let me clarify - when the online data becomes available, it will present us with a 15-minute interval update of usage data. I don’t know if that will include instantaneous demand or cumulative (integrated/averaged) demand over the 15 minute period like the old thermal demand meters gave us.
Just to clarify, Odipsh#t hasn't ordered all coal plants closed, but his EPA cronies have squeezed environmental regulations to the point that it doesn't make economic sense to install the necessary (?) emissions controls on many older, less-efficient coal-fired generating units. TVA will be retiring (and has already started) a sizeable portion of its older coal generating fleet, but they have systematically been replacing much of that with gas-fired turbine and combined-cycle gas/steam generating units. The upside is that gas is presently cheap. The downside is that it isn't going to be cheap forever and it makes little sense to put too many eggs in one basket.
Other utilities across the country are doing the same, possibly to the detriment of reliability on the electric grid. If the economy ever recovers for real, things could be pretty dicey in the power industry.
BTW, who's your power distributor? The idea of 27 cent/KWH power is pretty danged horrible. Especially during the hours when you need to run the AC the most.
Take a look at this.
http://www.watthackers.com/wp/10-energy-saving-devices-to-put-your-house-on-a-diet/
Move out of town, dig you a well and get off the grid.
My electric went down in the past few years, same KWHr usages, lower cost as have locked in on gas generated power.
Naturally, if nobama is still here come end of Jan. 2013, then the sky’s the limit for everyone not in Texas.
Wish I could! For complicated reasons I’m “locked-in” to city life for a few more years. I grew up on a remote Idaho farm and know what self-sufficiency is all about. We didn’t even HAVE electricity until I was in my late teens. It may come to that again if Obama has his way.
BTW, who’s your power distributor? The idea of 27 cent/KWH power is pretty danged horrible. Especially during the hours when you need to run the AC the most.
who’s your power distributor?
http://mountainelectric.com/info/about-mec/history.html
My understanding, this applys to all TVA customers.
You may want to check your are also. They have not published this as well as I think they should’ve . I would not know so much about this subject if not for my son-in law being a Mountain Electric Co-op employee.
It looks like their rate schedule is published on the web site. I see a customer charge of $15.75, 6.501 cents/KWH charge plus TVA’s fuel cost of (this month) 2.154 cents/KWH. I wonder if he might have slipped a decimal point - the TVA fuel charge in December was 2.734 cents/KWH. Slipping one place on the decimal point and you have 27.34 cents/KWH.
Mine are similar - our minimum customer charge is lower, but the rate per KWH is a little higher. Overall, for my rate of usage, it averages out to around 9.5 to 10 cents/KWH. I watch it carefully.
I do know that in the future, they will be coming out with time-of-use rates. I don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet, but they will most likely be higher “on peak” when the cost of purchased power is incrementally higher, and will likely be lower “off peak” when it’s cheaper. How big the difference is will determine whether or not people will go for it.
BTW, this “smart” meter will be able to facilitate that because it sends data to the power board every 15 minutes. I’m with EPB of Chattanooga.
BTW, this “smart” meter will be able to facilitate that because it sends data to the power board every 15 minutes. I’m with EPB of Chattanooga.
Because we live in the mountains of Upper East Tn., we call your country, the lower country. My son-in-law told me parts of the (lower Country) were already paying the new electrical rate....ours starts April first?
Some of the info. you provided is new to me. I need to talk with my son-in-law and ask him to garner more info for me.
Thanks for the re. and the info. you have provided.
There was nothing wrong with the meter in that scenario. I am not sure why you brought it up.
Because.. They where dead set that a meter could NOT go out of calibration.
Thought this might be of interest to you.
This a luddite effort
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