Comments on: Smart Meter Backlash, Again: This Time in Texas

By: kathy

kathy — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:48:29 +0000

Smart meters. More like dumb meters. My last 2 readings are correct readings , but the usage is incredibly low, which cannot be correct. My worry is if they can slow down to nearly a halt, what is to stop them speeding up. We need to do more tests.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:50:35 +0000

By your logic would it not be better then to stick with the old meter and have a lower power bill
S

By: Trey05

Trey05 — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 05:44:50 +0000

More than likely, the old meters were wrong. My wife and I prefer to sign up for a year contract during the winter. Rates are usually lower at this time and you can lock the lower rate in until the same time the next year. We have been using Ambit Energy for the past 3+ years and are very satisfied. We sign up for the 100% green plan which only uses electricity produced from wind power.

By: Getting the Consumer On-Board: Naperville IL Does Smart Grid Right. « Smart Grid Seeker

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:53:21 +0000

[...] Hawaii, the PUC rejected a request to extend an existing AMI pilot and there has been significant backlash against smart meter deployments in Texas and California. Many commentators see these issues as setting precedent for other state utility commissions that [...]

By: Barbie

Barbie — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:40:07 +0000

Forget the freaking money, people. Forget that they will be able to control every appliance in your home.

This is EMF pollution to the MAX. Forget the bills (mine quadrupled, thank you). What about our health?

By: Andrew P.

Andrew P. — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:42:49 +0000

The digital remote-reading meters are a completely different animal from the electromechanical dial meters they are replacing. I'd go for a remote-reading meter if it continued to use the old reluctance motor disc and gear train of conventional meters, with an add-on device to convert the dial positions into a radio signal. I DON'T trust the new LCD-readout meters with no moving parts. PG&E and the other utilities can argue until they're blue in the face about how great they are, but the public is right to distrust them. After all, similar technology is used in slot machines, where the odds can be adjusted remotely by electronic control, without a casino technician ever having to open up the machine. Maybe the utilities are treating the gas and electric meters as their own version of slot machines and have sugar-plum dreams of having hit the jackpot.

By: Control Energy, Cut Bill :Comsumers | Fraz Us !

Control Energy, Cut Bill :Comsumers | Fraz Us ! — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:21:29 +0000

[...] wake of the growing consumer backlash over the smart grid. Residents in Bakersfield, Calif., and Dallas, Texas, have filed lawsuits in response to smart meters that they claim have charged them much higher [...]

By: Consumers to Utilities: Control My Energy, Cut My Bill

Consumers to Utilities: Control My Energy, Cut My Bill — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:33:15 +0000

By: The Smart Grid Needs. . . Good Ol’ Fashioned Call Centers?

The Smart Grid Needs. . . Good Ol’ Fashioned Call Centers? — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:31:17 +0000

[...] how may I help you?” Can that voice help solve the smart meter backlash problem that’s cropped up in a couple cities in the U.S. over unexpected higher [...]

By: Smart-Grid Success Depends on Alignment of Interests « Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:20:22 +0000

[...] during periods of peak demand, they will not realize savings on their energy bills. In fact, if experience is any guide, they’ll receive higher energy bills, which will sour them on smart meters and the smart [...]

By: tony

tony — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:30:14 +0000

no my fridge doors are not open I am the only one that lives there thats why I turn off all breakers but the fridge and one 15 watt porch light .
txu / oncor tell me it’s because colder weather im useing
more heat, yea whatever,,,, so when did a dearborne propane heater start using electric ? Bull crap
these meters have a mind of there own.
anyone that has a computer can hack into this meter and change the readings guess thats what oncor/txu is doing to screw us .

By: Smart Meter Worries Crop Up In Australia

Smart Meter Worries Crop Up In Australia — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:00:48 +0000

[...] of smart meters isn’t just happening grassroots-style in select cities in the U.S., (Dallas, Texas and Bakersfield, Calif). Last week the government for the Australian state of Victoria declared an [...]

By: Jimmy Cracks Corn

Jimmy Cracks Corn — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:24:20 +0000

Digital technology is so reliable I hardly think it is a meter issue, but a communications software and linkage issue. They need to use better technology than the Silver Springs product line offers.

What I really want however is Ethernet speed broadband throughout my house over power line or through power line wireless adapters for Bluetooth devices and streaming data.

Per the woman down below that saw her bills dramatically rise after a digital meter was installed, even after making changes to lights, and insulation, this really doesn't make sense. I changed all of my bulbs, lowered the 'stat, and even added 50% surcharge so I could use/pay for Windtricity and my electric bills are lower. What's higher is the cost of Gas because I have a gas water heater and a gas stove and I have been cooking at home daily - much more than in the past. This is where I have pinched myself. You might check your gas portion of your electric bill (Where I live the same utility provides gas AND electricity.

By: Non-Profit Group Formed to Engage Consumers on Smart Grid « Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:09:13 +0000

[...] 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment Consumer backlashes to smart meters in Bakersfield, Calif., and Dallas have gotten the attention of utilities and smart-grid technology [...]

By: Non-Profit Group Formed to Engage Consumers on Smart Grid « Smartening the Grid

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:07:11 +0000

[...] Group Formed to Engage Consumers on Smart Grid Consumer backlashes to smart meters in Bakersfield, Calif., and Dallas have gotten the attention of utilities and smart-grid technology [...]

By: The Smart Grid Industry’s Answer to the Consumer Problem

The Smart Grid Industry’s Answer to the Consumer Problem — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:26:01 +0000

[...] of smart meters in a couple communities in the U.S. (currently Bakersfield, Calif., and Dallas, Texas) has rattled utilities, tech vendors and smart grid startups. In an attempt to start to create a [...]