PG&E's SmartMeter rollout off to rough start

PG&E's $2.2 billion program to install 10 million SmartMeters on homes and businesses throughout California to better monitor energy consumption is off to a rough start.

[Commander Bunny]

PG&E's ripping-off it's so-called "Customers".

The meter is a transmitter that operates in the 900mHz spectrum, and They'll put it anywhere They feel like in complete disregard of Federal guidelines of RF exposure to People/pets.
They're special, They don't have to abide by safety guidelines, like American citizens.

So here's the deal: We put a transmitter on Your house, that in turn "talks" to Your Neighbors meter, thus extending the systems range, and We fire 5,000-10,000 Meter-Readers, so They'll save Themselves a princely sum of money, and You, the Customer, have to pay for the meter to transmit 24/7.
So They're actually wasting electricity, and passing-off the expense on It's Customers.

CALPUC told Me that initially They(PG&E) were planning on charging It's Customers $500 for the meter, but keep an eye on Your "line transmission-tax", it'll increase, and increase it will, that's how They'll get Their money back.

This so-called "Meter" will keep track of Your usage, and hours of usage, a complete violation of privacy, and since it's being transmitted, Your information can be read by anyone with a scanner that's 900mHz capable, and a laptop w/ digital interface.
So this will not only invite home invasions/burglaries, but also leave You wide-open for other types of criminal activity.(Personal info & such)

After I had my meter installed, I turned-off the breaker, and lived soley off solar/batteries, and candles, and the meter racked-up 24kW's in 5 days.
Then there's the issue of turning off Your power remotely, at a whim, which can be fatal for Folks living on medical devices that require power.
And, like Google, this info on Your usage will be up for sale as well, a complete invasion of privacy.

If You're the Type Who reads Your monthly statement, They say that as of Jan. 2010, expect an increase in Your bill.

9 out of 10 People I've spoken with have told Me that Their bills were considerably higher the next month after the meter was installed.

This is a huge power grab for controll of a Monopoly's customer-base, and a win-win situation for Them, and a lose-lose situation for Their long-time Customers.

More info:
http://turn.org/article.php...

Fight this MONSTROCITY!

[Pulipaca]

Commander Bunny wrote:

PG&E's ripping-off it's so-called "Customers".
The meter is a transmitter that operates in the 900mHz spectrum, and They'll put it anywhere They feel like in complete disregard of Federal guidelines of RF exposure to People/pets.
They're special, They don't have to abide by safety guidelines, like American citizens.
So here's the deal: We put a transmitter on Your house, that in turn "talks" to Your Neighbors meter, thus extending the systems range, and We fire 5,000-10,000 Meter-Readers, so They'll save Themselves a princely sum of money, and You, the Customer, have to pay for the meter to transmit 24/7.
So They're actually wasting electricity, and passing-off the expense on It's Customers.
CALPUC told Me that initially They(PG&E) were planning on charging It's Customers $500 for the meter, but keep an eye on Your "line transmission-tax", it'll increase, and increase it will, that's how They'll get Their money back.
This so-called "Meter" will keep track of Your usage, and hours of usage, a complete violation of privacy, and since it's being transmitted, Your information can be read by anyone with a scanner that's 900mHz capable, and a laptop w/ digital interface.
So this will not only invite home invasions/burglaries, but also leave You wide-open for other types of criminal activity.(Personal info & such)
After I had my meter installed, I turned-off the breaker, and lived soley off solar/batteries, and candles, and the meter racked-up 24kW's in 5 days.
Then there's the issue of turning off Your power remotely, at a whim, which can be fatal for Folks living on medical devices that require power.
And, like Google, this info on Your usage will be up for sale as well, a complete invasion of privacy.
If You're the Type Who reads Your monthly statement, They say that as of Jan. 2010, expect an increase in Your bill.
9 out of 10 People I've spoken with have told Me that Their bills were considerably higher the next month after the meter was installed.
This is a huge power grab for controll of a Monopoly's customer-base, and a win-win situation for Them, and a lose-lose situation for Their long-time Customers.
More info:
http://turn.org/article.php...
Fight this MONSTROCITY!

The worst thing about the spending of billions of our tax dollars on the smart meter project is the fact that the sole purpose is to make it possible for the corporations (PG&E in northern Cal.) to eliminate jobs. The purpose is to stimulate jobs, not shed them. If they were really sincere about using the federal recovery stimulus money properly, they would focus on improving the distribution network, NOT the metering.
If they used the stimulus money properly, they should create jobs, not spend tax money on reducing jobs. They should underground the distribution network everywhere in the country ! Imagine all the jobs that would be created. And all the problems across the country with ice storms, snow storms, hurricanes and wind storms would be eliminated if the grid was underground. It would benefit the customers to have a more reliable power grid, which is in really sad shape now.
Enough of these corporate welfare bailouts, upgrade the grid, not the meters.
I am thankful that we don't have any smart meters in Marin, and hopefully never will at all, especially with the new ideas of procuring electricity from Shell. PG&E told me that they hope to install smart meters in Marin by 2011, but I hope that people wake up to this scam and squelch it post haste, nip it in the bud !

[Pulipaca]

Anyone interested in the debate about smart meters should try and watch KTVU ch. 2 Oakland news tonight (Wed. 11/18) at 10:00 pm.