Comments on: Smart Grid Miami: FPL, GE, Cisco, Silver Spring Rolling Out 1M Smart Meters

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:19:56 +0000

I am with NBC Miami and am interested in purposing a story concerning the implementation of smart meters. FP&L is more than willing to comment on the benefits of the smart meters, but I’m having a harder time finding those opposed. I’d appreciate it if you’d email me with more information about the Florida Citizens Against Smart Meters.

You can reach me at lee.ziesche@nbcuni.com thank you

By: Mr Skinner

Mr Skinner — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:01:25 +0000

The so-called "smart meters" are already causing a controversy in California, Texas and Connecticut, due to electric bills skyrocketing after connection of the new meters.

In Connecticut their Attorney General made the utility stop their planned rollout of 1.2 million "smart meters" and instead establish a small pilot program to test the meters and their results on electric bills.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) is in the middle of their planned rollout of over 4 million "smart meters" here in South Florida, so I have been in touch with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC)and you can email them at contact@psc.state.fl.us

I think our best bet in stopping the South Florida rollout of "smart meters" is to get Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General, involved as quickly as possible. His tollfree phone 866-966-7226. Maybe Attorney General McCollum could contact the Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for information on how he was able to stop the rollout of "smart meters" in his state. (CT Dept of Public Utilities 800-382-4586).

I also have been in contact with the office of Florida Governor Charlie Crist (Governor's Hotline 850-488-4441) regarding the "smart meter" controversy. I also contacted J R Kelly, Florida Office of Public Counsel.

We must all step forward and let our voices be heard in opposition to "smart meters" BEFORE they are installed everywhere! With "efficiency pricing" already in use in parts of Europe, you will see your electric bills SKYROCKET, as President Obama has said will happen under his energy policy.

FLORIDA CITIZENS AGAINST SMART METERS is a grassroots group of Florida citizens who do not want a "smart meter". We should be able to "opt out" and retain our current electric meter, but FP&L says SMART METERS ARE MANDATORY!!!

If you are opposed to the "smart meter", contact the Florida Attorney General's office (866-966-7226)for starters, as well as the others listed above and let them know your concerns. Call today before it is too late. Once you have the "smart meter" there is no going back.

FLORIDA CITIZENS AGAINST SMART METERS

By: FPL CEO: We Haven’t Seen A Dime of the Smart Grid Stimulus

FPL CEO: We Haven’t Seen A Dime of the Smart Grid Stimulus — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:17:26 +0000

[...] 9,000 smart distribution devices, 45 phasors and advanced monitoring at its substations. FPL announced last year that it will build out a smart meter project in conjunction with Cisco, GE, Silver Spring Networks and [...]

By: Smart Grid | Smart Grids Blog

Smart Grid | Smart Grids Blog — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:01:37 +0000

[...] ^ http://earth2tech.com/2009/04/20/smart-grid-miami-fpl-ge-cisco-silver-spring-rolling-out-1m-smart-me... [...]

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By: Dan Burger

Dan Burger — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:45:19 +0000

The greatest advantage of the smart meter system does not ultimately favor the consumer in the long run. The meter will report the individual residence Power Factor as a part of the entire usage report to the utility. The power factor is like mpg, the more efficiently your home uses electricity, the higher the power factor. At a point in the near future, domestic utilities will adopt the "efficiency based pricing" that has begun to show up in European countries. This change in pricing will charge the same basic rates per killowatt, but a penalty will be assessed by the utility if your power factor is not at their "acceptable" level. This penalty will coerce millions of homeowners to spend money for the latest and greatest appliances and other products that use electricity, often money they can ill afford to spend. Sure, you will have greater access to controlling your usage, but rest assured, those more efficient units will not last as long as your current ones that work just fine, even if they cost a little more to operate. The utilities will deny this until the cows come home, so if you are one of their employees, wait 5 or 6 years after the meters are deployed to reply to this comment. The corporate response of "At this time there are no plans to implement pricing based on power factors." are already to roll out from the Public Relations departments, so don't waste the consumers time.

By: SmartMeterRNDGuy

SmartMeterRNDGuy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:27:26 +0000

To answer is simple savings = profits. The current estimate of the amount of power generated to the amount of power actually used is a conservative 2:1 ratio, it is likely higher. This is because power cannot be efficiently stored so much of it is wasted in filling up the back end of the grid where its generated and distributed. With real time feedback on usage (vs the once a month meter reads) that the smart grid provides Utilities can idle back much of the generation and synchronize it with demand in near real time reducing the overhead kept always available by a huge amount. The savings to power generation costs would be astounding, and they are sharing it with the consumer that goes the extra mile and consciously participates in lowering demand. Not to mention the generation of fossil fuel based plants would reduce their consumption and that is something almost everyone would appreciate as well, unless you are an oil company. :)

By: EBizEnergy

EBizEnergy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:06:19 +0000

I am curious as to who is making money and how long this is sustainable. Consumers save on their bills. The energy service provider gets lower revenue from lower usage/bills. Vendors (GE, Cisco) make money by selling their equipment. So is the money to support allof this coming from the government? How is this sustainable at a larger scale?

By: The Tech Vendors That Will Cash in on the Smart Grid Stimulus Funds

The Tech Vendors That Will Cash in on the Smart Grid Stimulus Funds — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:47:27 +0000

[...] General Electric: GE is one of the newer smart meter players, but the conglomerate has been working with utility Oklahoma Gas & Electric on a 6,600 smart meter trial, and has a contract with PHI, which received $104.80 million for a smart meter deployment in Washington, DC. GE also has a big contract with Florida Power and Light. [...]

By: SmartMeterRNDGuy

SmartMeterRNDGuy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:57:57 +0000

To qualify for stimulus Shovel Ready project status, a majority of the money must be spent domestically. GE has no electric meter manufacturing in the United States (this is ALWAYS where the most money goes for these projects). (the big) BUT, Al Gore is on Silver Springs board as are some Hollywood types, not to mention the rather too close position GE has with the administration. This White House has already shown disregard for Bankruptcy Law to hand out favors to constituents. Will it bend its own rules and ship a majority of that money to an overseas based meter subcontractor for GE?

By: Smart Grid Stimulus Funding Revealed!

Smart Grid Stimulus Funding Revealed! — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:26:25 +0000

[...] Florida, on Tuesday. The location was chosen because the DOE approved a $200 million grant for the Energy Smart Florida Project, which will help the FPL Group, Cisco, GE, and Silver Spring Networks build out a smart grid in [...]

By: A Growing List of Players in Amsterdam’s Smart Grid: Cisco & IBM

A Growing List of Players in Amsterdam’s Smart Grid: Cisco & IBM — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:01:19 +0000

[...] It seems like Amsterdam really only needed either IBM or Cisco — not both — particularly because the pilot is only for 500 homes. As a result, it’s interesting to see how the roles are being divvied up between such large firms: According to this morning’s release, Cisco will develop the network to connect household appliances to an energy management system, IBM will create the network inside the home, including connecting the home network to the web, and Dutch utility Nuon will develop the applications for the energy management system. In past smart grid projects, IBM and Cisco have each taken the lead (Cisco and Duke, IBM and Malta). Cisco, for example, has focused on the consumer portion of the smart grid, like in its FPL deal. [...]

By: Cisco to Use Its Own Home Energy Gear for Duke Smart Grid Rollout [Earth2Tech]

Cisco to Use Its Own Home Energy Gear for Duke Smart Grid Rollout [Earth2Tech] — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:13:17 +0000

[...] moving into the smart grid space earlier this year, establishing partnership deals like the one to roll out smart meters to Florida utility FPL in conjunction with Silver Spring Networks and GE. Soon after that deal was announced, Cisco made [...]

By: Cisco to Use Its Own Home Energy Gear for Duke Smart Grid Rollout

Cisco to Use Its Own Home Energy Gear for Duke Smart Grid Rollout — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:02:05 +0000

By: Smart Grid Duel: Cisco vs. Silver Spring

Smart Grid Duel: Cisco vs. Silver Spring — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:29:14 +0000

[...] Cisco and Silver Spring have been partners on smart grid projects before, like the one from Florida utility FPL, this morning’s activity demonstrates very strategic moves by the companies to tout their [...]

By: ComEd Taps GE, Silver Spring for Smart Meter Pilot

ComEd Taps GE, Silver Spring for Smart Meter Pilot — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:41:02 +0000

[...] is the second large smart meter pilot win for GE and Silver Spring together in as many months. In April Florida utility FPL announced that it would work with Silver Spring and GE (along with Cisco) to roll out 1 million smart meters. [...]