New Meters Stir Fears for Health and Home

New Meters Stir Fears for Health and Home

www.nytimes.com

Pacific Gas and Electric’s campaign to introduce wireless smart meters in Northern California is facing fierce opposition from an eclectic mix of Tea Party conservatives and left-leaning individualists who say the meters threaten their liberties and their health.

The meters are a crucial building block for what the Obama administration and the industry envision as an efficient “green grid.” The goals are to help utilities allocate power more smoothly and to give people more information on how they consume energy and incentives to use less.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A breach of privacy is one gripe with these new wireless power meter devices, a health hazard from radio emission similar to cell phones is another concern by Pacific Gas & Electric consumers who are are being required to use wireless smart meters to monitor their household power consumption.

PG&E has already installed 7 million of these meters since 2006 but Santa Cruz County Supervisors have granted a one-year moratorium on the installation of these devices based on these concerns.

Obama administration envisions a "green grid" using these devices to allocate power more smoothly, others view it as another black eye given the consumer as it measures not only how much power is consumed but how it is consumed.

Another spy living in the American home?? And irradiating us with his "death ray"?? That's a stretch but those are the claims. Hypervigilance is maybe what is called for these days. Perhaps others are concerned what other information can be passed by these wireless devices in the home. We know for sure there is a lot of gas being passed over these meters.

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Talked to a meter reader last week who told me it could be one of the last times that I see one! Only combined gas/water services are going to be personally metered, so we'll still see him. Told me its all going direct link to base, (I'm guessing data likely transmitted to central points via power lines then through PSTN), however wireless I am not going to be keen for. Our WLAN is kept opposite end of the house to bedroom for a reason, whereas power meter is close to the bedroom. Not happy.

We use less power than average per inhabitant at this house even incl gas usage so I don't need to be monitored more and told how to be more efficient, I'm doing what I can already. Not like our 90+% hydro electricity supply don't grow on trees anyway. And co2 emissions? Don't stop breathing..

ever since they installed ours somehow they know when i leave the house.

They just installed one on my house.
I don't see a seal from weights and measures how do I know the reading will be accurate? Or if they can flip a switch and add 3 KWH electronically.
Is there some way to rig up a signal blocking box around it to stop the chance of such? Once a month reading is fine, moment by moment is not.

Just another reason to go completely off the grid. Don't sell them any surplus electricity either. Sue them if they don't remove or disable their meter. They always want the little guy consumer to take the blame for using too much electricity, but what about the big businesses? Besides, why would they want us to conserve if they are making more money? Is it to make sure their big business buddies can always have enough? They can always shut us down in favor of the local industry that is hogging all the electrons. Just more to hold over us I guess.

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


How? I'm not Amish. Solar panels cost more than I have ATM.