The anti-Smart Meter movement.

[Perd Hapley]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville/chi-naperville-smart-meter-arrest-20130123,0,6519967.story

This is only the second time I've heard of this. Does anyone know more about this issue?

[never_retreat]

I'm not sure what version of the so called smart these are.
Some are readable from a distance by the device. So a guy still needs to ride down the street and read them, they just don't have to get out and look at each one.
The other version they have been trying to perfect for years sends a signal back down the power line. Last time I saw anything about those there was the problem of the signal not making it very far down the line. Transformers also did not allow the signal to pass very easily.

[vaskidmark]

The city wants everybody to have a smartmeter.  They cook up a scheme with the electic utility to charge an exhorbitant fee to install (??) (thought the non-smartmeter meters were already in place) a non-smartmeter meter, and neatly $25/month to have someone go read it.

These two do not want a smartmeter - for a variety of whackdoodle reasons.  The city has in place a mechanism for dealing with non-smartmeter customers that involves billing them as opposed to arresting them and throwing them in jail.

The city decides to disregard that mechanism and arrests them and throws them in jail.

Naperville is going to have to enact a parade ordinance if they do not already have one, in order to deal with the lawyers that will be coming to offer their services for the standard cut of the proceeds.

 

stay safe.

[TechMan]

People are afraid of multiple things with smart meters.  One is hackers getting in and turning off their power.  Another is the electromagnetic fields that are being used, but they will put a cell phone up to their head.

Here in OH, you either allowed them to install smart meters (gas and electric) or the utility company would disconnect you from the grid.  We have had semi-smart water meters for years.  By semi-smart, I mean they drive a van down the road and read your meter via radio waves.  If they want to turn your water off they still have to come and manually do it at the street.

ETA: Actually N_R a lot of the utility companies have put in mesh wireless networks, so they don't even have to drive down you street to read the meter.  Our electric/gas company states that I can see my actual usage within 24 hours after use.

[Jamisjockey]

The real fear most people have with smart meters is that the goobermint will start using the technology to monitor and ration power usage.

[dm1333]

Yup.  It has been a big issue around here because people claim that we don't need to be exposed to all those radio waves and the meters are not accurate.

“It was forced on my house today,” she said. “It was really a violation. I violated something, but I’ve been violated too so I guess we’re now in a society of violating one another.”

The city, which has repeatedly declared the wireless meters to be safe, offers a non-wireless alternative meter to residents with concerns. There is a $68.35 initial fee for a non-wireless meter plus a $24.75 monthly fee for manually reading it. Stahl said residents who want a non-wireless meter should not have to pay for it, and said she represents other homeowners who were not able to continue to refuse the wireless meter installation.

“I have not done the work of attempting to educate the community and advocating for the right of anybody in Naperville to refuse the smart meter just to stand off to the side,” she said.

I thought the only place having issues with smart meter installations was here in good ol' NORCAL.  Some of the same people I saw complaining about the smart meters had a cell phone glued to their ear and spent a lot of their off time in front of a computer screen.

[Perd Hapley]

Oh, so this really is a thing. I didn't know that it was a thing. I thought it was a non-thing, but apparently not.

[TechMan]

The real fear most people have with smart meters is that the goobermint will start using the technology to monitor and ration power usage.

Yep, forgot that one.  That is the biggest one.

[Hawkmoon]

I like the smart meters. Ever since I was a kid, we dreaded the day the meter reader would come. They drove like maniacs, tore up the driveway, cussed at the dogs (who were doing their job by barking at asshats who tore up the driveway), and much of the time read the dang meter wrong anyway.

Now the idiot just drives down the street and never has to enter the driveway. Dog is happy, I'm happy.

[AZRedhawk44]

Smart meters work hand in hand with energy star appliances.  Supposedly, smart meter equipped homes with appropriate appliances can alter the frequency of the power so that your laundry dryer or plasma tv will not work during power rationing, but your fridge and heater will. 

[zxcvbob]

Smart meters work hand in hand with energy star appliances.  Supposedly, smart meter equipped homes with appropriate appliances can alter the frequency of the power so that your laundry dryer or plasma tv will not work during power rationing, but your fridge and heater will.  

Frequency is one thing they can't really mess with.  By can't I don't mean oughtn't, I mean it's really not possible.

They do have smart disconnects for electric water heaters and central A/C compressors so they can be shut off remotely during peak demand.  I think the homeowner gets a discount for letting them install one.

[dm1333]

Smart meters work hand in hand with energy star appliances.  Supposedly, smart meter equipped homes with appropriate appliances can alter the frequency of the power so that your laundry dryer or plasma tv will not work during power rationing, but your fridge and heater will.

I hadn't heard this one yet.  Conspiracy central (aka rural NORCAL) is obviously behind the 8 ball on this one or my ear is not as glued to the ground as I thought it was.  Maybe they figured out that I am a government plant!!!!!!

[TechMan]

Frequency is one thing they can't really mess with.  By can't I don't mean oughtn't, I mean it's really not possible.

They do have smart disconnects for electric water heaters and central A/C compressors so they can be shut off remotely during peak demand.  I think the homeowner gets a discount for letting them install one.

Ah they are going it, messing with the frequency.  http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/25/it-hertz-when-you-do-that-power-grid-to-stop-regulating-60-hz-frequency/

[Devonai]

I have a little bit of experience in this field, having cataloged over 14,000 distribution transformers for Connecticut Light & Power last year.

First of all, what the hell is anyone doing cutting locks to gain access to anyone's property?  If I did that I would have been fired so fast I'd warp back in time.  Second, no distribution transformer currently on the market is capable of processing the kind of information they're talking about, and power companies will not replace a transformer unless it stops working or blows up.  The oldest one I saw was a 1947 Westinghouse and it was still on the line, transforming away.

Lastly, while I'll always come down on the side of the property owners, any health concerns here are complete bunk.  That being said, it is clearly wrong for the municipality to twist their arm as goons for the power company.

[TommyGunn]

George Noory's COAST-TO-COASTAM is running a show tonight on the topic of smart meters.  Perhaps he'll discover whose behind the plot, the MEN IN BLACK, the Bilderbergers, or Space Aliens.

[Perd Hapley]

I thought the Bilderbergers were Space Aliens.

[Northwoods]

I thought the Bilderbergers were Space Aliens.

No.  They just eat babies wrapped in gold foil.

[Perd Hapley]

No.  They just eat babies wrapped in gold foil.

Doesn't everyone?

[red headed stranger]

Doesn't everyone?

Nope, just the reptilians. 

[Chester32141]

According to the Progressive Electric Company spokesman here in central Florida, a smart meter is so fast and accurate the power company can tell what types of appliances are in use and what show is playing on the TV ... Cable or NetFlix or DVD ... I believe in the not too distant future we'll see discussions of smart meter evidence just like we now see evidence provided by cell tower pings ... Wow !! I guess I'd sound paranoid if I had anything to hide ...  

[MechAg94]

Wouldn't a frequency change affect a lot of large and expensive synchronous motors operating off grid power?  The systems monitoring the larger motors do track frequency.  Our company has one in the area that is 35,000 HP.  I know there are larger models. 

As far as smart meters, I just don't really want someone shutting off my power.  I don't care much about the remote read.

[Sawdust]

The real fear most people have with smart meters is that the goobermint will start using the technology to monitor and ration power usage.

This is exactly why I am paying to keep my old analog meter.

That, and there are more than a few reports of exhorbitant high bills after a smart meter install.

Sawdust

[RevDisk]

This is exactly why I am paying to keep my old analog meter.

That, and there are more than a few reports of exhorbitant high bills after a smart meter install.

Second is true. There have been more than a few reports of "hey, my bill has jumped up quite a bit..." from folks that don't sound like they wear tin foil.

[K Frame]

"First of all, what the hell is anyone doing cutting locks to gain access to anyone's property?"

To access THEIR property, i.e., the meter.

From the sounds of it, and while the article doesn't specifically say, my guess is that it was done with a court order permitting access.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

seemingly normal folk can be real crazy.