Pepco's Smart Meters -- Big deal, privacy and health risk, or no?

[Anonymous]

I may be behind the times, but I've only recently heard about Pepco's ongoing installation of new smart meters in our area. These are digital meters that will replace our old analog ones, and apparently make it easier for the utility to read and monitor our energy usage. These things have generated a lot of hubbub in California (where else?!), where some consumers voiced concerns about privacy and the potential health effects of having another source of RF (radio frequency) exposure in your home (on top of internet wifi, cell phones, microwave ovens, etc.). The opposition in California was such that state officials forced the utility to allow consumers to "opt out" of getting one of these new meters in their home, so long as they were willing to pay extra to keep the old analog unit.

Truthfully, I don't know what to think about all of this, and I'd be curious to hear your impressions. It seems these Smart Meters are not a huge source of RF exposure, especially compared to all the other electronic stuff that's humming on our households these days. And yet, with all of those other sources -- wifi, cell phones, etc. -- we've each chosen to expose ourselves to whatever health risks, if any, may be associated with them. The fact that we don't have a choice about getting a Smart Meter grates on me, and seems emblematic of the way a monopoly (in this case PEPCO) does business with relatively little regard for what consumers want. I'd favor having an opt out in Maryland (where I live) if we could force PEPCO to provide that option.

What do you think?

For background, here are some sources:

Maryland Smart Meter Awareness, a group (which I am not affiliated with) that argues for an opt-out provision - http://marylandsmartmeterawareness.org/

A Pepco news release about Smart Meters - http://www.pepco.com/welcome/news/releases/archives/2011/article.aspx?cid=1755

A (PDF) report by the nonprofit California Council on Science and Technology that discusses some of these issues - http://www.ccst.us/publications/2011/2011smartA.pdf

[Anonymous]

I have seen Pepco's ads about smart metrs, but live in VA. From what i have read, smart meters offer a lot of benefits when it comes to power outage identification and restoration. It is my understanding that the RF emitted from these meters is extremely low - and the meters are installed outside of the house, which further reduces exposure. Here is another site that I recently found that had RF-related information. http://smartgrid.eei.org. I also looked at this study http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20034959-54.html

[Anonymous]

PP - I seem to have gotten the first link wrong. Try http://smartgrid.eei.org if interested.

[Anonymous]

What's the privacy concern??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the privacy concern??

http://epic.org/privacy/smartgrid/smartgrid.html

[Anonymous]

I am not worried about the safety aspect.
Smart meters collect a lot of information and that is where I have some concerns. This data is PEPCO's, not yours. The regulations covering this data are more lax than your current electric bill. Expect PEPCO to share customer data (individually or in aggregate) with it's "partners."

There does not appear to be an option to "opt out" of PEPCO collecting their data. Expect that a few years from now the news will report that PEPCO used the data improperly or a company insider access/sold the data improperly or somebody hacked into the system.

I think the benefits to the customer are minimal in the near term. Smart meters will allow time of day metering (different rates at different times) but if people don't shift their consumption, then there is no opportunity for net consumer savings. Field experience is that residential consumers don't shift their electricity use in a meaningful way (run your dryer at 3am!) and don't save money. In fact, consumers generally do not want time of day metering. Smart meters mostly will help the utilities manage their system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the privacy concern??

http://epic.org/privacy/smartgrid/smartgrid.html

Typical EPIC. They trot out the parade of horribles without any real explanation or context.

[Anonymous]

The benefit to consumers now is more rapid discovery of and response to outages.

The RF level is extremely low - an extremely short bursts of energy once a day, as compared to your home wi-fi network which has energy going all the time.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. Thanks for the perspectives. It's good to hear them. Can someone explain further how this enables PEPCO to have, as PP said, "more rapid discvoery of and response to outages"?

Seems to me that consumers are quick to let PEPCO know about outages. And what is it about the Smart Meters that will help restore power more quickly?

Also, it seems few people on this forum have safety concerns.

[Anonymous]

Pepco never seems to know when I get my power back -- they generally call to see if we're still out. I'd imagine the smart meter will help with that.

Ours was installed about a month ago. A meter reader had told us about them a while ago -- seems so much more efficient.

[Anonymous]

Without smart meters: A storm hits the area and a tree knocks down a tree on my street, pulling down the wires and cutting power to a dozen houses. Maybe half of them call PEPCO which is fielding numerous calls from annoyed customers. PEPCO dispatches crews who work to mend the wires. PEPCO "clears" the reports and calls back the people who asked to be called. Now, if you get a call back and the repair didn't restore your power, then you need to call PEPCO and the cycle repeats.

With smart meters, PEPCO will know almost immediately exactly which homes have lost power and when they have been restored.

For now, identifying outages, reading your meter and cutting power remotely are the benefits (mostly to PEPCO).

[Anonymous]

Honey, I have news for you. You are BATHED in RF all the time, day and night. I don't worry about it but if you do, these meters are the least of your concerns.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks again to (almost) everyone. Not 22:22 though. No need to be patronizing. I acknowledged in my original post that there are numerous sources of RF in our homes already. All of which, unlike the Smart Meters, we have *chosen* to put in our homes.

It's helpful to read the non-patronizing comments of what value folks see in Smart Meters. You have raised some good points that I either didn't know about or hadn't fully considered. So, thanks.

[Anonymous]

"With smart meters, PEPCO will know almost immediately exactly which homes have lost power and when they have been restored."

And they will immediately know not just what homes are effected but what parts of the grid are effected, so they can fix the problem more quickly.