Posted on 03/12/2010 8:04:49 PM PST by thecodont
When Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced it was installing smart meters, they weren't exactly giving customers the option of turning down the device. But one Bay Area man demanding his constitutional rights told CBS5 that he doesn't want a new meter. Period.
"To me it's unconstitutional, it's an invasion of my privacy," said Mark Dieteman.
The smart meter allows PG&E to watch energy usage remotely and lets customers monitor how much electricity they use. However, residents have blamed the devices for a dramatic increase in their bills, prompting calls for an investigation. A Bakersfield man also filed a class-action lawsuit, which claims customers were overcharged and should get a refund.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=59017#ixzz0i1gBR6wC
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Funny thing is we have the capabilities to do both and have had such capabilities for nearly 30 years.
Can anyone guess WHY we have neither now? (As well as commercial space flight etc.)
In British Columbia where it seems that indoor pot farms are a dime a dozen on every street, I believe that bypassing the meter is the MO for these operators.
Twarn’t medicinal, I guess. The homes had all been purchased by a SFO person with Asian gang ties and were dedicated to growing hundreds of plants in each house.
You don’t need a search warrant to see excessive use of energy as required by these homes but understand California society now is to shut up, lock up and mind your own business. Most people in the Bay Area can’t even name or recognize their neighbors. Those wandering around at night (and of a mind to notice what their neighbors are doing) are usually just running on errands or getting home from a brutal Bay Area commute. They just want to retire to their entertainment room and watch the flickering lights of the idiot box, not their neighor’s bedrooms.
“”To me it’s unconstitutional, it’s an invasion of my privacy,” said Mark Dieteman.”
P.G.&E. isn’t the government. Plus, the meter and the electricity that it measures belongs to them — P.G.&E. He entered into a contractual arrangement with P.G.&.E. to purchase the electrical power that they sell. So, there’s nothing constitutional or unconstitutional about this arrangement. If he doesn’t like what they have to sell, well, since there’s no competitor he can’t purchase power from anyone else, but he still has the choice to disconnect! Then, he can have all the privacy he wants in the comfort of a dark, unheated house!
P.G.&E. isn’t the government. Plus, the meter and the electricity that it measures belongs to them — P.G.&E. He entered into a contractual arrangement with P.G.&.E. to purchase the electrical power that they sell. So, there’s nothing constitutional or unconstitutional about this arrangement. If he doesn’t like what they have to sell, well, since there’s no competitor he can’t purchase power from anyone else, but he still has the choice to disconnect! Then, he can have all the privacy he wants in the comfort of a dark, unheated house!
Yours is a good point. This story illustrates that many people don't have a firm grasp of what is and is not Constitutional (on the federal or state level) and what their individual rights and responsibilities are.
...I have a load meter that will only allow enough power to run lights and the oven, then times the AC to about 28-min per hour ...
If this is how you chose to reduce your expences, good for you, But I find it interesting that the reason to do this nation wide is based on a false presuposition - ie al gore - and is encouraged if not forced on us through prohibitive goverment regulations that fail the American people by inhibiting the electric co ability to build more power plants.
Quite correct. He can’t choose to keep “his” old meter because it isn’t his meter.
Damn you Limbaugh!
Cool...thanks for the info.
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