According to the Strategic Directions in the United States Electric Utility Sector Report, the power utilities industry is going through fundamental basic changes. The sixth-annual report was released Monday by Black and Veatch, a consultation and construction firm.

If you were a bunch of men selling ice cream I would say you know very little about cows. The probelem with the our transmission system is PEAK POWER DEMAND. And residential is the worst of the worst on hot days in the summer. (Or cold days for people on electric heat). Yes I do have a choice when my swimming pool filter runs, and when my dishwasher begins. In the future I will have washing machines that run at night and an electric car in the driveway the charges at 2 AM. It is not the solution for all but it is a step in the right direction. So what do you say Mikey !

Well I participated in a Bonneville sponsored project for a year which monitored my electric hot water tank and learned how to regulate it better so it would use less energy during peak demand.

I had no problem with volunteering to have their device installed on my hot water tank. The concept was for the power company to control when my tank was energized allowing my tank thermostat to control the water temperature. The concept is that a water tank is a heat sink that stores heat, and can be topped off during non peak electrical demand hours.

From my observations, I did not notice any difference to the water tank temperature for my lifestyle.

You may not want to help the concept of how to reduce peak energy demands, however, we have no choice. Concepts like this will stretch out the time table for when our power companies need to build new plants to meet our demand, but keep in mind, WE are the ones who pay for all power plant constructions!

Of course the rate payer will flip the bill for Smart Grid/Meters. Californians are reporting their bills have tripled and some even ten times the bills before. The rate payers are already being fleeced by the EPA on regulations to coal and gas plants for the now debunked a thousand times Global Warming, Global Cooling, and now Climate Change. These very costly construction projects are financed with the banks and passed on to the rate payer. Now for the Wind and Solar failure. Wind turbines are extremily expensive to install and build, unstable, uncontrollable power, no where near capacity promised (25 percent and later 11 percent) and impossible to maintain, Thousands from California to Hawaii (5000 and counting) have been abandoned because it is cheaper to buy new units than to repair. Solar is a total flap. The renewables are subsidized by the government to remain competetive and sometimes triple subsidized. Don't get me wrong, I think wind turbines are great if you don't need electricity or a return on your investment. Hey we can stand in circles and sing We Are The World and brag about how we are saving Mother Earth. A total fleecing of the American tax payer.

Mike, the Iraq war and Afghan wars cost more than three times that amount in the last 10 years. If the government can throw away money like that it can do what it once did when it built the great Colombia river and Colorado river power projects. Well, we do have a 3rd world grid but we do get to pólice the world. But that´s not a fair comment about 3rd world countries. Many have better grids than the US.

For the typical residential consumer, a "smart" meter has no advantages and the following disadvantages: 1. Most residential consumers have no choice when they use power. There is no consumer washing machine made that will run at 4 a.m. and transfer the load to a dryer that runs before increased rates kick in at 6 a.m. The time that you come home from work and start cooking is not under your control. The time you have to get up, take your shower and go to work is not under your control. 2. "Smart" meters provide almost instantaneous power usage data. This instantaneous data can allow the monopoly power company to implement time-of-day pricing. The time when most consumers need power coincides with the highest demand and, therefo0re, the highest price. 3. One of the selling points for "smart" meters is consumers will be able to access their instantaneous usage via the internet. Why? There are almost no appliances that connect to the internet and allow you to control them. A simple (cheap) automatic setback thermostat (already installed in most new homes) eliminates the need for remote control. 4. The internet is full of hackers. It is not a nice place. Exposing your instantaneous power usage to the internet is an unnecessary security risk. If they can hack into the Pentagon, they can hack into this system! This data can be a good indication of whether you are home or not. Nice for a bugler to know. Most consumers have no choice about exposing their private data because it is one of the power company's selling points.

Large businesses can benefit from time-of-day pricing. A hotel can have their employees on graveyard do the laundry at 4 a.m. This is a win for the power company, too, because it shifts demand so they don't have to build a new power plant. However, the residential consumer can do very little about when he uses power; so, time-of-day will not encourage a shift in demand for them. Therefore, for residentials, "smart" meters are a huge waste of money for the power company (actually the government because this is being done with government grants). Still, the power companies will sell TOD to their PUCs as an "energy conservation" measure. Since most residentials cannot change their demand pattern, they will be hit with a significant increase in their monthly power bill.

The article does not mention that changing out the old meter will cost the consumer more due to accuracy that is improved and not accounted for in an old meter. (Not much but every digit counts.)

"Costs– Upgrading . . . systems, . . . replacing aging equipment, is an expensive undertaking. Estimates . . . range from $338 billion to $476 billion . . . There is concern that these costs will ultimately be borne by the consumer."

With the ability to see where the usage is located along with the pattern of usage per household will permit future demand side management of power usage with financial incentives. This will delay or eliminate the upgrading of infrastructure and building additional generation and save immense amounts of funds. The smart grid funds have already been allocated and all or most of the electric utilities have signed up for their share as is their fiduciary responsibility.

do not want it. and just what valuable information does the utility co get by monitoring every individual that can't be gotten by monitoring the local substations? this is all about ramping up billing for peak and off hour rates and low power factors. microwaves and cell phones are used minutes at a time, and not at all while you're sleeping. Smart meters are 24/7

This will do nothing for the customer but will provide plenty of information to our govt.(they). They will know when you are home. They will be able to alot your useage. They will question useage spikes. They have lots of other fun things planned that I don't know about but it won't be for your good.