Just Say No to Big Brother’s Smart Meters by Orlean Koehle California PUC Finally Rules in Favor of the People
PUC orders PG&E to let customers opt out of SmartMeter program, by Gary Richards and Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 3/10/ 2011
Responding to months of consumer protests, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday ordered PG&E to come up with ways for worried customers to refuse SmartMeters. The utility was ordered to submit proposals to the commission outlining procedures and costs within two weeks. The PUC order is a stunning turnabout on a technology that many consider a key to managing energy use in the future. Utilities around the country have installed the electronic meters -- which can be monitored and adjusted wirelessly -- with little incident. But in Northern California, angry residents have expressed concerns that the meters can lead to overbilling and cause health problems, and PG&E has struggled to counter the bad publicity. PUC President Michael Peevey said before Thursday's meeting that he hoped the announcement "might calm some of the emotion surrounding this issue." Peevey said he could not predict what kind of proposal PG&E will submit, or how the commission will judge it. "But I think it's clear the time has come for some kind of movement in the direction of customer opt-outs," he said. Joshua Hart, director of Stop Smart Meters, an activist group that has led opposition
to the meters, said the PUC order was significant "but too little, too late." "We will not rest until we have a moratorium on installation and public hearings on the health concerns," Hart said.
The rest of the article gives more of the same old propaganda that there are really no health concerns to worry about, that the Smart Meters are all about reducing electricity costs, using electricity more efficiently and saving the world from “greenhouse gas pollution.” However, spokesperson for PG&E, Paul Moreno does agree that PG&E could have done a better PR campaign selling the idea to the public. The PUC released a 400-page report by an independent consultant last year that found nothing wrong with the meters but concluded that “PG&E turned the rollout into a consumer relations disaster.”
The Cost of Giving Customers an Opt Out and How Many Would Ask for it? Chris Johns, PG&E President said PG&E installs about 15,000 SmartMeters a day, and had replaced more than “7 million traditional meters in its service area from Bakersfield to Oregon. He said the replacement of all 10 million meters in PG&E's jurisdiction would be completed by the end of this year or early 2012.” To replace the SmartMeters already installed will be pretty expensive Johns said and he asks who is going to pay for it? “Does the whole community pay for that? Or do you try to make the person who wants the alternative pay for that?” Peevey said that customers not wanting SmartMeters should pay "reasonable" costs for alternative meters instead of putting the burden on all ratepayers.
Many Groups and Cities Have Filed Protesting Letters and Briefs Against PG&E’s Proposed Opt Out Plans. Most of these groups are protesting that the plan does not include an opt out of the Smart Meter period and keeping the old analog meter. Many letters are coming from groups also against Southern California Edison not allowing an opt out from the meter. Here are most of them:
http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/EFILE/P/140853.pdf: Protest Of County Of Marin, Town Of Fairfax, City Of Marina, City Of Seaside, Consumers Power Alliance, Public Citizen, Marin Association Of Realtors, Alliance For Human And Environmental Health, Coalition Of Energy Users, Eagle
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