Posted on 06/20/2006 10:22:48 AM PDT by SmithL
In the not-too-distant future, your home's electric bill could be based on when you use power, not just how much you consume.
State energy regulators are scheduled to vote in July on a $1.7 billion plan by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to install new meters and meter-reading equipment that would allow the utility to track electricity and natural gas usage with far more precision than it can today.
As part of the plan, PG&E would let small businesses and residential customers try a new way of paying for power. Those who volunteer would receive a lower rate in return for agreeing to use less energy at times when electricity demand is at its highest -- typically, hot summer days when air conditioners are running full-blast.
An administrative law judge reviewing the plan for the California Public Utilities Commission recommended late last week that commissioners approve it. A public hearing and vote is scheduled July 20.
San Francisco's PG&E considers the new equipment a way to boost customer service.
The SmartMeters are read remotely. Meter readers would no longer need access to a home or apartment building to check usage.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
If the monitoring is very specific, it's like opening a new window into your private life.
The Unions are not going to like these meters.
But if you do this with internet usage you are considered evil.
The eco-left will love this.
This would be a penalty for senior retirees, stay at home moms, the disabled etc.
Peak hours is when the above use their services most, from ACs to washing machines.
Demand side energy use surcharges on the way.
Just like commercial accounts.
No kidding. With our large family we do the laundry whenever we get around to it, sometimes several times in a day. Sometimes we just have a laundry day.
The damn socialists want to cram us all into their little predetermined molds, whether it's our driving habits or the garbage we use. It's all so freeking Orwellian.
I just had one of these installed for my gas meter (total usage only, not time of day as far as I know). It is nice knowing that I won't be getting any more nasty notes from the gas company that they'll cut off my gas if I don't schedule a time to let them in to read the meter.
Just go off the grid, quite feasible now a days..
Ours already is, and has been for over 13 years. "Time of Day" metering, they call it. It's completely optional; the electric company charges us an extra $2/month for the smart meter. In return, we pay 50% of the standard rate during the off-peak period, which is all weekend and every night from 8 PM to 7 AM (one hour later during DST). The on-peak rate is 145% of the standard rate.
In all the years we've had it, we've saved money on every monthly electric bill. The only thing we do differently is to avoid running the dishwasher—which heats its own water—during the on-peak period.
This is a good thing. The most medical problems with meter readers is dog bites and bee and wasp stings.
The price of electricity IS tied to need. The more companies need power, the price goes up, way up. In the evenings the price goes down.
Some use pump storage. They pump water to an upper lake at night when prices are low and release it through turbines when prices are high.
With this new metering system, the power company can tell when you have been using low or high priced electricity and bill you accordingly.
In Europe, and to a lesser degree here, the utilities have the rights to remotely control appliances -- its called "direct load control" -- more of the wave of the past than the future.
Emerging in this country are market-based mechanisms that allow the consumer to make an informed, sometimes automated decision to reduce load during peak power.
There is a great podcast at InfoWorld this week on the subject. http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/06/16.html
I also did this many years ago in PA. I didn't like it at first, but had no choice because my landlord had set it up that way. But I grew to like it.
"No kidding. With our large family we do the laundry whenever we get around to it, sometimes several times in a day. Sometimes we just have a laundry day."
So many ideas today seem to be thought up by people without traditional families.
Talk about micro managing the citizens lives.
So, what about filling up a "holding tank" every night at midnight...
I can see this with electricity, but not with gas. This must be specifically about gas.
I can see this with electricity, but not with gas. This must be specifically about gas.
Oops. I mean electricity.
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