Posted on 03/09/2014 6:00:09 AM PDT by dontreadthis
By now many of you that refused the installation of FP&L’s smart meters have received a “Dear Customer” letter telling you that you have a choice of meters. The letter goes on to say that if you don’t take their smart meter that you will be charged $95 upfront and $13/month to retain your old meter. If you haven’t received such letter, you will shortly.
On January 7, 2014 the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) approved this deal. Although, it is being contested by two separate citizen petitions (one of which I am leading), the rules state that FP&L can continue as planned with the stipulation that fees collected are “subject to refund”. That is, if the FPSC Order is overturned, they must return the fees charged to the customers.
Why the fees? Well you resistors are “cost causers”. It is a long-standing principle that is invoked at will when they want to get you to comply with the game plan. In 1987/1988 they invoked the same principle when they transferred the ownership of meter enclosures and associated cost burdens (maintenance/replacement) to you the customer. The order (PSC Order # 18893) stated that:
“Since self-contained meter enclosures are not a part of the utility function, but simply house the meter itself, their costs should be borne by the customer when the structure is initially wired for electric service or when it must be replaced due to obsolescence or wear. The burden of maintaining and repairing the enclosures’ must likewise rest with the customer.” A smart meter is not “simply a meter” but contains lots of additional components that are part of the utility function. It establishes a wireless Neighborhood Network and sends messages back and forth amongst neighbor meters, remotely disconnects services and monitors your usage.
(Excerpt) Read more at drrichswier.com ...
FPL should be burned to the ground. Worse utility in the US IMO.
I have a very nice, but low end rental unit. I found out that ALL of the tenants had lied about their self-reported power usage and my rental was on the mandatory reading list. (Meaning the company sent somebody special each month to read the meter.)
What’s the difference to the user if a meter reader comes by each month or the meter itself reports? I know I was grateful to get one as I didn’t have to drive 80 miles home from a work assignment just to read the meter.
I would like someone to explain to me how a smart meter “remotely disconnects services”.
Gone are the days of meter readers walking around gathering info. Embed a smart chip in the unit, and all details automatically updated at power plant. Technology = more job loss. Profit from it with SWIR- Sierra Wireless and CKSW - Click Software.
Maybe by sending a command that opens a relay inside the meter or associated apparatus
My mom worked for utility billing in their city. After smart meters were installed, she shut people off with the tap of a computer key.
In this day and age of competition in utility providers, you can always tell Florida Power & Light to pound sand and retain another utility on contract to provide the kWh and load demand.
Why is this even problem?
I have written many RF safety plans and for the life of me cant’ figure it out. The only cases that I see that could be a problem would be if a customer had a meter on the back porch and sat a foot and half underneath it continually.
Old microwave ovens are a different story.
If you want to have fun, identify the operating system and dump the IP addresses to the neighbors you don't like. You can either get on thru an ethernet connection or serially with a RS232 cable and a laptop.
There should be a comm port under a plate somewhere on the meter.
We have three smart meters, in order to shut off the entire house there would have to have a 250 amp contactor I them. A contactor that big would be twice the size of the meter!
All these meters do is report usage.
Why the disaffection with smart meters? You want juice, you get metered.
The meter belongs to the power company. They provide the juice, they own the meter. It is simply not a customer decision.
The meters have contacts in them that can shut off 250 amps?? I find that hard to believe.
I had a “saver switch” attached to my air conditioner compressor that allowed my utility to disconnect the cooling unit during peak usage in the summer in exchange for a few dollars credit on my bill. The unit came with the house and I never authorized its connection. Last year the utility company changed the unit for a new one...again without my permission. I hadn’t noticed any credit on my bill for years and was always concerned that the “save switch” benefited the utility not the customer. I protested that they had installed this equipment on my air conditioner without my permission and told them I would sue them for any damage to my equipment that resulted. I also filed a complaint with the state Public Utilities Commission. The switch was promptly removed and last summer I noticed a significant improvement in the cooling of my home and LOWER utility bills. While I was assured that the new switch only affected my air conditioning, I do not want anything on my home that gives some outside entity control over how cool or warm I keep my home. I remember Obama telling us that we can no longer keep our thermostats at 72 degrees and do not want to facilitate government jackboots from taking control of my thermostat.
Smart meters constantly emit RFs. They have been known to cause fires. They are exempt from UL testing because the utility companies are essentially and offshoot of the government. They are known to cause multiple medical problems such as palpitations, tinnitus, sleep disruption, anxiety, et al. They allow the utility to track your electric usage which means the utility can decide to reduce or shut off your power if they deem it necessary. It is invasive and intrusive. Google smart meters are unhealthy and see what pops up. Just more government-sanctioned control on the masses.
There are various kinds of smart meters.
1) Some just transmit electric usage, to avoid having to have a person physically come over to read it.
2) Some additionally have remote control features, which allow the attachment of remote-controlled plugs to things like your central air conditioner, that allow the utility to remotely shut it off if they have a brown-out condition.
The Florida meters under discussion seem to be type 1. However, there is nothing stopping them from being turned into type 2 at some point in the future. What would happen is that customers would be offered a "discount" if they allowed their major appliances to be put on controlled circuits. A lot of people don't like the idea of their power being controlled like that.
“smart appliances” are smart meter friendly.
That is NOT true. I work for one of the largest manufacturers of electric meters in the world. They are very proud of their cutoff design. They are made to operate only a few dozen times, so the design requirements are quite different from a contactor that has a lifetime of many thousands of cycles.
Yes they can be shut down with a key stroke. I’ve seen mom do it. Additionally, residents can sign up for a program where the smart meter automatically adjusts the temp during its perceived peek usage time. If the system determines that the peek usage during a summer day happens to be 2 pm, it will automatically increase the thermostat by two degrees. The same in the winter, just the opposite direction on the thermostat.
just a heads up,
If you’re electric supply is spotty do not call F.P.L. to complain,
Call the Florida Public Service commission and make a complaint.
That way F.P.L. will act on said complaint instead of just filling up file #13,
Not too sure why but F.P.L jumps when PSC gets involved.
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