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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 244
W
wewire2 Offline OP
Member
If not, these real-time signal sending devices are headed your way.
Are these things an invasion of privacy? Can the information they send be intercepted and used by criminals? Seems to be a hot topic with the customers. Opinions are welcome.

Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 64
P
Member
When the power goes out, the poco knows instantly and sends out a crew so the power is back faster. smile

Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 356
Member
I get complaints all the time from clients. I have never heard a positive comment. Also, many said that their bill has gone as high as 50%.


Be kind to your neighbor, he knows where you live

Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 404
Member
Got mine in June. No problems or concerns, really; it would be cool if we could use Google Powermeter or get other data from it from the PoCo website, but haven't heard anything about that yet. They said they would still be reading them manually for a while, before they have them all in and the infrastructure is in place. They somewhere around 1.6 Million meters to replace. The cost savings for meter readers and spotting outages quickly must be pretty substantial to pay for that many meters, plus a contractor to do all of the installation.

Regarding any increases in meter readings; I assume that was due to their old mechanical meter aging and not having any capacity for lubrication of its mechanical parts.

One upside, was that they were more than happy to send me an old mechanical meter to build a lamp out of. In fact, they seemed more than willing to send me a truckload if I'd asked nicely.

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 943
Likes: 2
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Member
Originally Posted by noderaser
Got mine in June. No problems or concerns, really; it would be cool if we could use Google Powermeter or get other data from it from the PoCo website, but haven't heard anything about that yet. They said they would still be reading them manually for a while, before they have them all in and the infrastructure is in place. They somewhere around 1.6 Million meters to replace. The cost savings for meter readers and spotting outages quickly must be pretty substantial to pay for that many meters, plus a contractor to do all of the installation.


PG&E jacked up the rates to pay for the Smart Meter program, which are high enough already....:( (Strange thing is that they never changed the gas meter on my house to a Smart Meter although another house on the same property did get both swapped out.

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
Likes: 32
G
Member
I got a meter base from Builder's Square in their going out of business sale virtually for free. (all you could get in a cart for $25)
Hialeah Meter was selling these old meters for about $10.
I also got one from the builder my wife worked for. They had it on the gen set on the construction trailer.
I have one hooked up on a 5 wire pigtail of SO cord that I use as a "Kilawatt" on steroids. I had it on my spa for a while, just to see how much that costs to run (a tad over a buck and a half an hour when the heater is going)


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
Likes: 32
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Commercial customers can get some real nice charts and graphs from FPL. I am not sure about residential.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,273
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Member
I have it on good authority that the Poco can terminate service digitally with these meters.

Right there the Poco has to love them.

Remember, their service base pays for everything -- so politics decides everything.

The Poco is immune to economic trends. Its only concern is keeping the politicians happy, captured and aligned.


Tesla
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 244
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wewire2 Offline OP
Member
So maybe it's also about fine tuning the control of (political) power. Could be a valuable tool to be able to instantaneously shut down the utilities in an area. Water and gas are next, huh?? Where's Jesse Ventura??

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
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I would be surprised if they had two 200a rated Triacs in these meters. The heat sink would be bigger than the meter can.
(280 watts @ 200a)

The other question is, are they on the customer side of the meter? I am not sure I would want a 1/2% tax on my power bill, just so they could turn me off at will.


Greg Fretwell
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