Quote:
Originally Posted by t vago
Message from the electric company: "Sure. We'll just replace all of the existing stupid meters at everyones' houses with new-fangled costly smart meters. We'll also install costly monitoring equipment, and train our employees how to use it. We'll eat all of the cost in labor and equipment, too... And we have this bridge in New York we'd like to sell you!"
|
The extra cost of installing the more sophisticated meter is offset by not having to send someone onto your property to locate a meter and hopefully read it accurately. It's further offset by not having to build as many power plants due to the reduced peak demands.
I just wish my house could get one of these smart meters and then integrate the readings for gas and water into it as well. No sense sending 3 different people out to my house every month when 1 meter can report it all, tier my service rates, and give a detailed hourly report of my usage that is viewable online... if only the future were here now.
EDIT: I believe people are confusing
smart meters with
smart grid. A smart meter merely reports live data, a smart grid may have the ability to switch off individual appliances, and this is done at the appliance level and not the meter level.