"Smart Meters - or Personal Surveillance?

[sptcoupe]

Some friends of mine in SoCal have already run into issues with these meters recently installed at their homes. One guy does a lot of recording of his personal music and uses a lot of equipment. He recently received an email mesage demanding that he disclose what kind of business he is running out of his home! Really scary to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JNFr_j6kdI

[azygoustoyou]

Now that's interesting and thanks for sharing. We just got something in the mail recently something similar.

[So Cal Mark]

yes, they're replacing all of the meters with "smart meters". It goes along with security cams everywhere and gps positioning on cell phones. It's great to have big brother in our back pockets, isn't it? All in the guise of keeping us safe

[baltobernie]

Interesting video, but I think he overreached on a few points. The meter only measures demand and time of use, not when you're using your toothbrush. We've had TOU meters here for more than a decade, with different electricity pricing depending on Time of Use. Three categories, with the lowest in the middle of the night, weekends and holidays. Delaying the dishwasher start by a few hours or doing laundry on the weekend saves us money. It is optional, some homeowners have it, others do not. Same with a radio signal switch on the A/C and/or hot water heater; gives the utility the right to defeat these for a 15-minute period in the case of extreme electricity demand in the region. Also optional, but $25-$50 per month credit over the summer. Zero use last year, once on 8/22/2011. People bitch and moan about greenhouse gases, acid rain and nuclear "safety", but won't take steps to mitigate them.

Most of us have no idea what information is being collected at the supermarket, online, or at our pharmacy. How much electricity I use and when I use it? Couldn't care less who knows.

If the guy down the street is illegally operating a business out of his home, I must pay more in taxes to compensate.

[engineerted]

This goes along with the black box that the insurace company wants to put in your car! Way too much regulation!!

Ted

[TX82FIAT]

Almost all cars produced in the last ten years have an on-board system that can tell is you were wearing your seat belt when an accident occured.

While the electricity smart meters and some other things are logical. There comes a point where life can not be scripted or protected by uncle Sam. The Gov has invaded our lives in so many ways we have just come to accept it. One of the ways i like to think of it is this. It is arguable that the foundation of our countries success was paved by the industrial revolution, hard work to provide more for future generations, improved educations systems and personal liberty that was fought for by great generations of previous Americans.

So..... We do not produce much if anything anymore because our standard of living is greater than our world wide education level. Think of how we lived in the 60's with a small house, one car, many production jobs and an education level in the top 10 of world economies in reading, science and math. Our education systems are challenged to keep up with the world. We are 14th, 17th and 25th in the world in reading, science and match respectively. We are consumed with consumption not production resulting in spending for today and not saving for tomorrow. just take a look at our national debt that can be explained as borrowing to inflate an unearned standard of living. Finally, our personally liberties are being attacked one at a time. I wear a seatbelt, don't smoke, own a gun and most importantly try to include God in my daily life (not always successful). If someone outside of my car does not want to wear a seatbelt that is thier choice. If you want to smoke in a bar then smoke.... It's a bar. Owning a gun is a tennant of our liberty. Why I can't say the word God outside of my house or church to be politically correct is crap. True diversity is respecting each others differences.

The point of this ramble is that our American compass is not pointing North. We have lost direction. Big brother is moving into areas without a lot of thought about the true welfare of the people in the medium to long run. Politicians are more concerned with getting re-elected than making good decisions. Monitoring electic use, red light cameras and not being able to smoke at a bus stop are the least of our worries. We all need to tighten our belts now so that future generations of Americans can have the opportunities we now enjoy.

Personal Surveillance is one piece of an attack on our liberty. God bless America. I'm ready for the hate responses.

[maytag]

One guy does a lot of recording of his personal music and uses a lot of equipment. He recently received an email mesage demanding that he disclose what kind of business he is running out of his home! Really scary to me.

devil's advocate here, just abit:
Why is this scary to you?
Is he running a business? isn't there a way he can respond in the negative?

So, personally, I'm torn on things like this. I am a political conservative. 15 years ago, I would've leaned more towards Libertarianism. But I find the older I get, and the more of life that I experience, the more I realize that I have a responsibility to make things better than the way I got them. Funny thing is that in some cases, conservatism supports this idea, like in the case of Helmet laws. I'm all about personal choice, but you crashing while not wearing a helmet impacts MY OWN freedom and pocketbook... so I am FOR helmet laws.
Yet in other cases I find I'm opposed to those I frequently agree with.

So in this particular case, where I am (perhaps) a little better educated on the facts than some others because of what I do for a living, Here's how I feel:
If it is voluntary, ie: I elect to participate for my own reasons, either a discount / credit or my moral compass, then it is a no-brainer. If I find that my power rates are too great during the work-day, so I elect to do my laundry on Sunday evening, then that's great too.
If the power company decides to monitor my usage, and even charge more for my usage because the patterns cost them more, that is their prerogative; Just as it is my right to cover my property with Solar panels and storage batteries and go off-grid.
But if I am compelled legislatively to modify my behavioral patterns in energy consumption, then I'm no longer okay with it.

So is the above-cited case one of government / big-brother? or a utility-company / profit-driven surveillance?

[Spiddy]

You sure hit the nail on the head there TX82FIAT! The UK has followed the USA exactly in all respects and it's now in a dreadful situation. Nobody seems allowed to think for themselves anymore (Nanny State) and, of course, it appears we all want everything NOW! . . . Why? What's wrong with waiting and saving? But it's in your face 24/7. The latest must-haves, live now pay later. Oh boy, are we ever paying for it now!

We moved to Spain to get away from all the crap. It's corrupt, sure, but then show me a country that isn't. BUT WE HAVE FAR MORE FREEDOM THAN WE'VE BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPERIENCE SINCE THE 60s. But even here it's changing. And as Spain is diving into the abyss, who do you think is having to pay to sort the mess out Not those responsible!

Sorry, I seem to have lost the thread here. I get carried away when it comes to politicians, bankers and the real leaches; lawyers.