Comments on: Regulatory Agency Demands High Tech Meters

By: Tom Anderson

Tom Anderson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:22:54 +0000

If I remember correctly, the communication transmission is broadcast through the electric wiring that connects to the meter.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:41:32 +0000

JMV:
Yep, but that’s true with unplanned power outages, too.
We have some of those here, so we have a gizmo to plug the computer and other gear into, then plug the gizmo into the wall. When the power goes off, the battery in the gizmo keeps power on long enough to allow a normal shutdown instead of kaboom.

BTW, when they put the new meter on our house, they didn’t say anything about needing an Internet hookup.

I can’t see in the story where it says you need an internet connection. Am I missing something?

By: JIMV

JIMV — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:38:51 +0000

“JIMV:
Yeah, but wouldn’t you rather have them cut it off for a few minutes each hour (house shouldn’t heat up a whole lot in a few minutes) than have it go off for hours from a major blackout when the circuits overload and go boom?”

This would be OK if that was all they did and they did it rarely. Instead they shut us down for hours on hot days mid day. Worse, my hobby is audio. I have some nice audio gear and the power company slamming the power on and off plays hell with decent gear. If they fry something they sure don’t pay for it.

By: Dirk Pitt

Dirk Pitt — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:18:15 +0000

I wonder how it will work for those of us that do not have phone lines activated in the home. The only phone I have is my cell phone, will I be forced to reactivate my phone lines to accomodate Idaho Powers device?

EDITOR NOTE–Dirk, read it again. The existing power line actually is used to transmit the information without phone, cable, or radio links. All you need is an internet connection which you can do with your cell phone. I believe the technique is called “duplexing”…using the same wires for two purposes.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:46:57 +0000

JIMV:
Yeah, but wouldn’t you rather have them cut it off for a few minutes each hour (house shouldn’t heat up a whole lot in a few minutes) than have it go off for hours from a major blackout when the circuits overload and go boom?

By: JIMV

JIMV — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:58:47 +0000

“So, when Idaho Power decides we are using too much power on those really hot August days, they can now just simply cut off the power!
What a country!”

BINGO! This puts a lot of power in the hands of bureaucrats and none at all in ours, and we get to pay for it!

By: Tom Anderson

Tom Anderson — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:07:58 +0000

The conservative dinosaurs will shriek when you change anything, it is merely a reptillian reflex action.

This is a good thing. The days of the “use all you want feast of energy” are over. We need to be able to manage what we have available, not just continue building more capacity for that one day in July when it hits 115 degrees, after a 75 degree night.

Unless our economy continues to fall forever, oil prices are going to head for uncharted territory in the next year or two, and will drag all energy prices up as well. We are experiencing a paradigm shift where our old grand style of living is going away, to be replaced with a much simpler, lower energy, more localized system.

The best thing to do is get ahead of the curve now. Hoping for a return to cheap energy is personal and societal suicide.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:29:56 +0000

Sounds like to me if they get rid of the meter readers and all the rest of the staff it takes. Then isn’t that also a savings for them.
Shouldn’t the power bills go down?
I’m I just kidding myself that they would pass that savings on to us.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:10:07 +0000

My house has had the new, remote-read meter for several years.
One big advantage to it for those of us outside town is that we no longer have to leave the gate open on meter-reading days — which for many people has meant moving the horses, cows or whatever out of the pasture the lane passes through, penning up the dogs, maybe even warning the hands not to shoot strangers see wandering around in back of the house.
While Cyclops’ dire prognostication is accurate, I doubt it would be used quite that way (you already can sign up to voluntarily let them turn off your air conditioner for a few minutes when power usage threatens to overload the circuits. The plan is they would cut off some people for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, then turn them back on and cut off some others, sort of rolling it along).
These also will enable handling “rolling blackouts” the same way, even cutting off homes but not businesses, and especially not hospitals.
Also eventually should have a way of people letting them know if someone in the house is using some electrical device that’s necessary at all times, such as certain breathing apparatus, etc.; that house could be left connected even when all the others around it are shut off for a few minutes.
The system certainly could be misused and abused, but that seems highly unlikely (the power company doesn’t like being sued for killing someone by cutting off their oxygen supply or somesuch).
And, yes, as Ready Kilowatt says, it would make it much easier to take advantage of time-of-day pricing.
OMG, does this sound like I’m actually in favor of something? Damn! There goes my reputation!

By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:26:33 +0000

Oh, good. Now Idaho Power will be able to allow some old person to freeze to death in their own house because of forgetfulness in paying the bill.