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June 28, 2010 By Hilton Collins
Utility companies are racing to install digital technology that promises to make consumers more informed about their electricity usage -- an effort that in some cases is being funded by government grants.
Ironically a recent survey suggests that a majority of Americans aren't aware of these smart meters, the next-generation technology that makes it possible for two-way communication between households and utility companies. And they also don't know about the smart grid, the interconnected IT backbone and network that will make the smart meters possible.
In fact, 70 percent of Americans haven't even heard the phrase "smart grid" before, according to 1,000 online interviews done by marketing agency EcoAlign and Russell Research in May to gauge consumer perceptions and expectations of smart grid technology. The results were published in a report, Separating Smart Grid from Smart Meters? Consumer Perceptions and Expectations of Smart Grid.
According to EcoAlign's CEO Jamie Wimberly, the lagging awareness is mainly because there aren't enough smart meters installed yet for people to get an understanding, much less a smart grid as a whole to connect them to.
"They haven't heard about it yet because in their communities they don't have smart grid yet. There hasn't been a rationale or context in order to talk with Americans about what smart grid is," he said.
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I have been following the development of the Smart Grid with some interest and even more trepidation. The government has been pushing this technology by emphasizing the cost savings (naturally), but they haven't been nearly as forthcoming with the other side of that coin -- namely that the Smart Grid will give the government not just the ability to monitor an individual household's energy use, but also the ability to limit it.
Tucked into an obscure section of the Cap and Trade legislation is language that states in effect that the Secretary [of Energy, I presume] will have the authority to determine appropriate levels of energy consumption. They're not just talking about corporations here -- not that I think the government should be able to determine "acceptable" energy use for corporations either -- they mean for *everybody*. I don't want the government to be able to say, "Well, it looks like Mr. Smith is using too much heat this January; let's cut him off." If that sounds like paranoia to you, ask yourself this: Two years ago, would you have believed that the federal government had the authority to fire the CEO of a private corporation? To nationalize the automobile industry? To rewrite shareholder contracts in order to redistribute Chrysler's assets away from its secured shareholders and toward the UAW? To cap private sector executive pay via a "pay czar"? To nationalize the student loan program, making it *illegal* for private banks to make student loans? To force the chairman of a private corporation to cough up $20 billion without due process of law, much less approval from that corporation's board of directors or shareholders, into a fund the distribution of which that corporation will have absolutely no say? The sheer unbridled lust for power this current government is displaying -- and its apparent refusal to acknowledge any limits on that power -- is frightening. Giving them the Smart Grid will give them the ability not just to monitor our energy usage, but to determine what that usage will be. Does anyone seriously think that if the government has that power they will refrain from using it?I have been following the development of the Smart Grid with some interest and even more trepidation. The government has been pushing this technology by emphasizing the cost savings (naturally), but they haven't been nearly as forthcoming with the other side of that coin -- namely that the Smart Grid will give the government not just the ability to monitor an individual household's energy use, but also the ability to limit it.
Tucked into an obscure section of the Cap and Trade legislation is language that states in effect that the Secretary [of Energy, I presume] will have the authority to determine appropriate levels of energy consumption. They're not just talking about corporations here -- not that I think the government should be able to determine "acceptable" energy use for corporations either -- they mean for *everybody*. I don't want the government to be able to say, "Well, it looks like Mr. Smith is using too much heat this January; let's cut him off." If that sounds like paranoia to you, ask yourself this: Two years ago, would you have believed that the federal government had the authority to fire the CEO of a private corporation? To nationalize the automobile industry? To rewrite shareholder contracts in order to redistribute Chrysler's assets away from its secured shareholders and toward the UAW? To cap private sector executive pay via a "pay czar"? To nationalize the student loan program, making it *illegal* for private banks to make student loans? To force the chairman of a private corporation to cough up $20 billion without due process of law, much less approval from that corporation's board of directors or shareholders, into a fund the distribution of which that corporation will have absolutely no say? The sheer unbridled lust for power this current government is displaying -- and its apparent refusal to acknowledge any limits on that power -- is frightening. Giving them the Smart Grid will give them the ability not just to monitor our energy usage, but to determine what that usage will be. Does anyone seriously think that if the government has that power they will refrain from using it?I have been following the development of the Smart Grid with some interest and even more trepidation. The government has been pushing this technology by emphasizing the cost savings (naturally), but they haven't been nearly as forthcoming with the other side of that coin -- namely that the Smart Grid will give the government not just the ability to monitor an individual household's energy use, but also the ability to limit it.
Tucked into an obscure section of the Cap and Trade legislation is language that states in effect that the Secretary [of Energy, I presume] will have the authority to determine appropriate levels of energy consumption. They're not just talking about corporations here -- not that I think the government should be able to determine "acceptable" energy use for corporations either -- they mean for *everybody*. I don't want the government to be able to say, "Well, it looks like Mr. Smith is using too much heat this January; let's cut him off." If that sounds like paranoia to you, ask yourself this: Two years ago, would you have believed that the federal government had the authority to fire the CEO of a private corporation? To nationalize the automobile industry? To rewrite shareholder contracts in order to redistribute Chrysler's assets away from its secured shareholders and toward the UAW? To cap private sector executive pay via a "pay czar"? To nationalize the student loan program, making it *illegal* for private banks to make student loans? To force the chairman of a private corporation to cough up $20 billion without due process of law, much less approval from that corporation's board of directors or shareholders, into a fund the distribution of which that corporation will have absolutely no say? The sheer unbridled lust for power this current government is displaying -- and its apparent refusal to acknowledge any limits on that power -- is frightening. Giving them the Smart Grid will give them the ability not just to monitor our energy usage, but to determine what that usage will be. Does anyone seriously think that if the government has that power they will refrain from using it?