Jill Cowan, jcowan@tennessean.com 1:33 p.m. CDT August 21, 2015
The rollout of new, higher-tech electricity meters in Williamson County is sparking concerns among some residents, who say the so-called "smart meters" are an invasion of privacy.
The Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corp. started installing the devices throughout Williamson County last month as part of a systemwide switch that is expected to wrap up in the fall of next year.
The new meters more precisely track energy usage by automatically taking readings every 15 minutes and sending them back to the utility every four hours, rather than requiring a meter reader to visit a home.
Utility officials say the new meters give consumers a clearer picture of their energy usage, which, in turn, helps them figure out when they can cut back for a lower bill. For example, if your air conditioner kicks on in the middle of the day when you're not home, you can adjust accordingly.
The new system also means that utility workers will be alerted to outages without residents having to call them in.
And MTEMC officials have emphasized that the new meters will cost ratepayers nothing - not for the meters themselves, nor for the systemwide rollout.
But Beth Lehman, a Williamson County home-school advocate and four-year resident of the county, said she isn't convinced.
"My data is personal and it's not for sale," she said. "If I'm not giving it away, the only way to get it is to take it, and I have a huge problem with that."
Lehman said she had read about a movement to block smart meters in other states, particularly in California, where ratepayers complained about unexplained bill spikes, the ability for burglars to watch for when people aren't home and even heightened radiation.
"It was sensational headlines ... I didn't think anything about it because it was far away," she said Thursday. "Then they showed up at my house and installed one."
Lehman said she was able to have MTEMC reinstall her analog meter, but only after a battle.
She sent out an email warning her contacts about the meters along with a suggested sign to post informing workers that they would be "prosecuted to the full extent of the law for trespass, assault, wiretapping" and other crimes if they tried to install one of the new meters while residents weren't home.
Lehman added that she was concerned about the heightened radiation, though utility officials have said the meters use wireless technology similar to cellphones.
Still, Lehman said that she took most issue with the idea that the data collection wasn't optional.
Utilities across the country are installing so-called smart meters in homes and businesses to allow them to better track and manage energy use by their customers, aiming to increase efficiency, lower costs, and reduce pollution.
But the advanced meters, which use wireless and digital technologies to send frequent consumption data to utilities, face opposition from customers and others who see them as a threat to health, privacy, and security.
Already, eight states, including Maine and Vermont, have adopted laws or regulations that make it easier for customers to opt out of smart-meter programs and keep old analog meters. Eight others, including Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., are considering similar measures. Representative Thomas Conroy, Democrat of Wayland, has filed a bill in the Legislature that would give Massachusetts residents the right to say no to smart meters.
"I'll admit I haven't done all the research on the alleged or real health effects of smart meter technology," said Conroy. "But with an abundance of caution from my constituents, the least I could do was offer a piece of legislation to bridge the gap until the science catches up with the potential effects of smart meters, if there are any."
The opposition to the meters represents a hitch to one of the key energy initiatives of the Obama administration in Washington and Governor Deval Patrick's administration in Massachusetts - the smart grid. Smart grid proponents hope to incorporate information technology and advanced communications into the production, distribution, and consumption of electricity to make the power system more efficient, less costly, and more environmentally friendly.
A Massachusetts law requires all utilities in the state to undertake pilot programs to test how smart grid technologies, such as advanced meters, can help cut energy use. By more effectively managing supply and demand, smart grid advocates say, the power system can avoid the costs of building new plants and transmission while reducing pollution emitted by plants.
For example, on a hot summer afternoon when the power system is near capacity, utilities monitoring energy use through smart meters might raise thermostats a few degrees in the homes and businesses of willing customers, reducing demand and avoiding the need to start up expensive plants known as "peakers" to meet short-term need. Ultimately, that could lead to lower bills.
More recently it has become apparent that ComEd has begun targeting young children in the marketing of its smart meter products. What is even more surprising is that school officials are evidently allowing ComEd representatives to enter school grounds to play games with the children to help them learn about smart meters and how they purportedly can be used to help save energy and money.
Such efforts by ComEd can clearly be characterized as part of a propaganda campaign as company representatives openly associate smart meters with free ice cream, fun and games without discussing any of the serious risks involved with this technology. The company even refers to the traditional analog meter as a "dumb meter" when communicating with children, a reference which reflects extreme bias as it attempts to replace the traditional meter with the more controversial "smart meter."
In fact, regarding the reference to a "dumb meter," which would normally instill negative connotations into the minds of impressionable children, this is in contrast to the description contained within a 2010 document from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) which states the following:
"By anyone's assessment, traditional electromechanical meters are an amazing piece of engineering work. Refined over a hundred years, the design of a standard residential electricity meter became an impressive combination of economy, accuracy, durability, and simplicity."
The reference to "free ice cream" is noteworthy as it was used by a consumer watchdog group in 2010 in characterizing the efforts of Google to offer free services in return for a loss of privacy on the part of consumers. This analogy holds here since one of the many risks involved with smart meters is a loss of behavioral privacy by utility customers. In return for this loss of privacy, utility customers will supposedly gain additional information on their energy usage habits, but unfortunately so will the utility and others.
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The following is a list of local governments within California who are opposed to the mandatory wireless 'smart' meter program. Names of cities and counties are linked to news coverage or official council minutes that substantiate each city or county's inclusion
Those local governments in red have passed ordinances that have made 'smart' meter installationsillegal within their jurisdictions.
Note that these areas may still have smart meters installed, as utilities are widely ignoring and violating local laws. Therefore do not use this list as a guide to finding low RF housing.
Details have come to light of a man killed by a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Smart Meter that caught fire in Vacaville, CA on July 9th, 2010. Larry Nikkel of 230 Arbor St. died from a suspicious electrical fire that consumed his home the day after Wellington Energy, contractors for PG&E, installed a Landis & Gyr "smart" electric meter. A wrongful death suit lawsuit filed by the family against the utility, subcontractor, and meter manufacturer has now been settled for an undisclosed sum.
The circumstances surrounding Mr. Nikkel's death add a grave and tragic chapter to the growing human cost of the 'smart grid.' The following account is based on interviews with his brother Walter, as well as details obtained by the fire incident report, investigation, and coroner's report.
Larry Nikkel worked for more than 30 years as the groundskeeper at Solano Community College, and was well liked in Vacaville by those who knew him. He was in a rock band in the Seventies called The Panties who played gigs all over the East Bay. Larry loved his rock music and he loved his 1958 Gretsch guitar (the same kind as Chuck Berry played). The guitar- worth thousands- was given to Larry by a co-worker at the College, underscoring how much he was loved and admired by those who knew him.
Larry was diagnosed with throat cancer in early 2010 and had just finished his chemotherapy treatment at the time of his death. The day before he was killed, he had submitted the paperwork to retire from his job at the Community College. On July 8th, 2010, according to neighbors, Wellington Energy came through and deployed electric smart meters all along the street, including on Larry's house. Less than 48 hours later, Larry was dead- killed by smoke inhalation and burns from an unexplained electrical fire that consumed his home.
