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Last I heard the meters don't use radio waves at all to communicate with the power company but instead use the power lines them selves, same way you can get a TV signal in to your house over a wire and you can have a phone conversation over a wire, the high voltage electricity on the power lines is at 60hz put a 60hz filter on the other end and you have a wide range of signals that can be sent over live wires.
I kind of like the idea tho of being able to opt out if you think you use little enough electricity to not matter, they should send out a questioner asking people if they think they are better then everyone else and should there for not be part of improving the system.
Large electrical customers have already been studied, they are easy, they have very set patterns, if it's a big store it has lights, heat and ac that come on and run steady, if it's a factory the patterns are just as predictable, but houses, they tend to be the cause of brown outs, the power company already does it's best to plan for you waking up and making toast or coming home and flipping on a light bulb, but they are still just guessing and the better their tools the more refined they can get and the less fuel they burn running stand by generators.
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