NOT TRUE. I design them, for pete's sake; I know what I'm talking about. Very few smart meters my company ships have the ability to control anything except our load switches, and our partnering companies'. There is not some magic zot beam that can turn appliances off at will. Even the Zigbee Power Profile meters from my company and our competitors can't control just any and every appliance.
I just switched to fiber internet, provided by the local electric provider. When they installed the fiber, they also changed out the watthour meter for a new electronic design that is tied to the fiber for the purpose of communication. I don't know if it's a smart meter, a dumb meter, or what, but as it stands now, my bill is still based on monthly KWH readings presumably provided by the meter directly to the utility.
It is rumored that we will soon have time-of-use rates made available as an alternative, but right now, that isn't an option. Load-controlling isn't an option here at this time either, though that could be a future option as well.
Given that my 3-ton AC could barely keep the house below 80 when it was 100 outside last summer, I don't think that I would choose to allow direct control of my HVAC by the utility.
BTW, only Jim Robinson has a magic zot beam. :-)
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/smart-grid-project-cuts-electricity-usage/
The company’s software takes into account the customer’s billing history, local weather conditions and other factors to manage the home’s appliances. Mr. Roberts said Consert can control up to 256 devices but expects most savings will come from appliances such as air conditioners and water heaters.
Also, note the roadmap for interoperability in http://epic.org/smartgrid_interoperability.pdf
Whirlpool smart appliances by 2015
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/05/08/whirlpool-set-launch-smart-grid-compatible-appliances-2015
Well, even sooner -
General Electric and Whirlpool will soon debut smart appliances. GE says
its line of smart water heaters will be available for purchase next month
while Whirlpool is expected to announce on October 5 that it will have a
million smart clothes dryers on the market in 2011.
Smart appliances can be programmed to accept signals from the utility that
instruct it to go into an energy-saving mode, or turn off, during times
when demand for electricity is critically high. Consumers will have the
choice to override the programming, but will likely pay more for energy
during these times.
http://www.smartmeters.com/the-news/648-ge-and-whirlpool-lead-development-in-smart-appliances.html
I’m sure the feds will have something like cash for clunkers for your old
non-smart appliances and homes with regular meters and dumb appliances
won’t be able to be sold without upgrading.