New electric smart meters

[Lpherr]

Has anyone had one of these installed, or have any information on them?

Doing research, people are saying their electric bills have jumped an additional $300/month.
If the meter is refused, they charge $9 and change in MI, but in IN, its $16.48.
They are going to collect usage data daily for distribution?
The meter can be turned on/off remotely, so someone else doesn't pay their bill, or they determine you're usage is too great, your power inadvertently gets turned off.
I read an article that stated 10,000 smart meters required to be changed, because they were overheating and causing fires.

These sound like just another step in total control.
I don't believe I will be having one installed; not anytime soon.

 

[ancjr]

These sound like just another step in total control.
I don't believe I will be having one installed; not anytime soon.

You're not wrong.

I wouldn't if I had a choice.

Our REMC deployed them several years ago. Before I bought this property.

 

[Magyars]

We've had one on our abode for a few years now.
We are on the 13 month averaging price plan and have not noticed any significant change.
I do agree with the control part. They can say based on your number of people, or SQ footage your allotted X hrs per month.....

 

[JEBland]

Given that pipeline hack, I'm surprised companies don't see the benefit of having a person actually read the meters and just keep it simple.

 

[ancjr]

Given that pipeline hack, I'm surprised companies don't see the benefit of having a person actually read the meters and just keep it simple.

Apparently, system robustness to random attack doesn't show up on quarterly balance sheets.

 

[Jaybird1980]

We have one on our house with REMC. The company I work for switched over to sort of smart meters back 8-10 years ago.

I've never seen a change and the readings are accurate. If you're concerned about the accuracy keep track of it.

If you opt out of the remote read meter I would fully expect to get more estimated bills in the future.

Remote read meters cut way back on the amount of employees needed to read the meters and eliminates the human error and rereads needed. Big reading variations are also easier to spot.

 

[Bigtanker]

We just got a notice from AEP about these going in this year. I haven't researched anything about them yet.

 

[Lpherr]

You're not wrong.

I wouldn't if I had a choice.

Our REMC deployed them several years ago. Before I bought this property.

They replaced our meter a while back, with one that they simply drive by to read it.
They don't have access to the meter now, since it's behind a locked gate.

We've had one on our abode for a few years now.
We are on the 13 month averaging price plan and have not noticed any significant change.
I do agree with the control part. They can say based on your number of people, or SQ footage your allotted X hrs per month.....

If I'm paying for the amount used, I will use whatever amount I want to.
We had to have a new high efficiency HVAC system installed last fall, so that should reduce our usage.
I run the shop equipment more in the summer, and the cnc uses the most power, but it should all be offset by the new HVAC.

 

[Jaybird1980]

They replaced our meter a while back, with one that they simply drive by to read it.
They don't have access to the meter now, since it's behind a locked gate.


If I'm paying for the amount used, I will use whatever amount I want to.
We had to have a new high efficiency HVAC system installed last fall, so that should reduce our usage.
I run the shop equipment more in the summer, and the cnc uses the most power, but it should all be offset by the new HVAC.

Just because the meter is in a locked yard doesn't mean they can't read it.if it's visible from outside of the yard there is a good chance they can read it.

When I read meters I would rather not enter a fenced yard to read, and read the majority of them from outside a fence.

The company I work for went to the meters that you collect by driving by. Are you on AEP?

 

[Lpherr]

We have one on our house with REMC. The company I work for switched over to sort of smart meters back 8-10 years ago.

I've never seen a change and the readings are accurate. If you're concerned about the accuracy keep track of it.

If you opt out of the remote read meter I would fully expect to get more estimated bills in the future.

Remote read meters cut way back on the amount of employees needed to read the meters and eliminates the human error and rereads needed. Big reading variations are also easier to spot.

Ours too was changed about 10 years ago. It's digital, and sends a signal to the truck when they pass the property is what we were told.
It's pretty accurate from what I can tell, but having the ability to turn off our power remotely is a bit worrisome. As stated above, a hack would be a concern.

 

[Lpherr]

Just because the meter is in a locked yard doesn't mean they can't read it.if it's visible from outside of the yard there is a good chance they can read it.

When I read meters I would rather not enter a fenced yard to read, and read the majority of them from outside a fence.

The company I work for went to the meters that you collect by driving by. Are you on AEP?

I know they can read it, but they don't have access to change it. And the gate is always locked to keep the pups from escaping.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Ours too was changed about 10 years ago. It's digital, and sends a signal to the truck when they pass the property is what we were told.
It's pretty accurate from what I can tell, but having the ability to turn off our power remotely is a bit worrisome. As stated above, a hack would be a concern.

They have had the ability to turn of your power remotely long before the meters were changed. The meters give them the ability to shut off individual houses remotely is all.

 

[Lpherr]

They have had the ability to turn of your power remotely long before the meters were changed. The meters give them the ability to shut off individual houses remotely is all.

That is concerning. I don't need my power turned off because someone else didn't pay their bill (we all know the competence of people these days). I don't see the problem with what we have; it works fine. Other than more control. Some people don't understand, with the more tech advances, the more control they have over us.

 

[Jaybird1980]

That is concerning. I don't need my power turned off because someone else didn't pay their bill (we all know the competence of people these days). I don't see the problem with what we have; it works fine. Other than more control. Some people don't understand, with the more tech advances, the more control they have over us.

I thought you were worried about a hack, not an accidental shut off.

It doesn't really give them more control though because they have always had the control to shut off your power and not at the meter.

 

[JEBland]

Apparently, system robustness to random attack doesn't sow up on quarterly balance sheets.

At first glance, that seems like a mistake in 2022.

 

[Lpherr]

I thought you were worried about a hack, not an accidental shut off.

It doesn't really give them more control though because they have always had the control to shut off your power and not at the meter.

A hack isn't much different than AEP, in regards to shutting off our power, other than a hack would target more than one house or business.
Shutting down a grid is different than singling out an individual address.
We used to have DirecTV, and they shut off our access based off of another account that they inverted numbers on.
It wasn't pleasant getting it straightened out, so I imagine this happening with our power, in the dead of winter, when it's 0* on a Sunday night.
I'll pay the extra $17.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I should say I am against all of the remote read meters, but not because of any reasons mentioned so far. If someone is hacking the utilities I highly doubt they're interested in hacking individual meters.

The possibility of a inadvertent shutoff because of paperwork is a possibility, but it's always been a possibility. There is a lot of paperwork for shutting off a meter and multiple people check the paperwork.

I am against them because when I read meters we were responsible for spotting things that were wrong. Gas leaks, stolen meters, reversed meters, damage to the lines, broken locks, tying in before the meters, ect.
Going to remote read gets rid of the people in the field who were responsible for finding and reporting these things and I can't even begin to guess at how many I've found. We were also responsible for doing the corrosion checks on gas meters, now those will not be done with any accuracy.

It also cuts down on the workforce which I don't like to see, utility jobs are good jobs. We went from around 600 meter reader to under 50, and it went from an entry position to a retirement position.

 

[Jaybird1980]

A hack isn't much different than AEP, in regards to shutting off our power, other than a hack would target more than one house or business.
Shutting down a grid is different than singling out an individual address.
We used to have DirecTV, and they shut off our access based off of another account that they inverted numbers on.
It wasn't pleasant getting it straightened out, so I imagine this happening with our power, in the dead of winter, when it's 0* on a Sunday night.
I'll pay the extra $17.

And that's fine. I'm just trying to give you a heads up that you will possibly be spending time on phone calls because of estimated readings that result in billing complaints.

 

[K_W]

They put one on our house a few years ago... One day I was mowing, and there it was. They want to charge $ to remove it and read the old fashioned one manually. Also, they constantly send me these "home energy audit" packets I never asked for. They break down "heating, cooking, electronics, "always on", and other estimated usage categories. Plus, they try to get you to let some guy come out and assess your house for energy waste and give out cheap LED bulbs. No thanks, I already have Hue in every room. I just pitch them unopened.

 

[ancjr]

I am against them because when I read meters we were responsible for spotting things that were wrong. Gas leaks, stolen meters, reversed meters, damage to the lines, broken locks, tying in before the meters, ect.

I spotted a pole myself that was nearly eaten completely through. It was on the line that goes from the corner of Jackson/Williams St. in Salem to Henriot and Main in Georgetown.

I've seen linemen working on that line in weather I'd never thought they would be working in.