Smart meters. Smart for whom?

NV Energy recently installed “Smart Meters” on most, if not all the residences in Las Vegas.  (lvsun

What is a Smart Meter?

A smart meter is an electrical meter that records use of electric energy in short intervals and relays the information back to the utility for MONITORING and BILLING purposes.  Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system.

So what happened to the “Meter Reader”?  No longer needed.  Signals are sent out every 15 minutes to the power company.          

The opposition to the meters cite these problems;

            Lost jobs. (Meter readers)

Constant exposure to radio frequency emissions and electro-magnetic       radiation.  Studies have shown that the same frequencies from cell phones and smart meters can affect brain functions  

www.createhealthyhomes.com).  The World Health Organization pointed out that radiation from cell phones can cause cancer. Check out how your cell phone rates in emissions rates (www.ewg.org)

Intrusion into privacy.  Since the meters are monitored almost 100 times a day, it could show a pattern of your life.  For example; when you wake up, go to sleep, leave your home to go to work or go on vacation, when you cook dinner, etc.  Also, since the meters depend on wireless technology, the signals could be intercepted for malicious intent.

When the meters were being installed, the resulting power surges blew the customer’s electronic devices such as expensive computer.  There were more than 130 claims of such occurrences.  I’m sure many folks never even knew what happened.  But I did get an energy-saving light bulb when they completed the swap.  I spent about an hour going around my house, resetting all my clocks though.  Good thing I wasn’t on some sort of life-support system.

Instead of your power consumption being evaluated at the end of your billing cycle, now it can be evaluated daily, several times a day.  For example, the total power usage was tallied at the end of the month and was determined by the power company if you had “exceeded” your allotted use of power, you were placed in a higher “tier” and charged accordingly.  Now you can be checked daily for excessive power use.

The emissions affect your pets.  I’m sure the same way as humans.

NV Energy’s “main man” stated the meters do emit “RF emissions and very low RD emissions.  Our meters are all FCC certified.  SO the federal government controls the standards around smart meter safety”.  He further stated that three independent studies were done, including one done by the University of Nevada Reno.  Wonder if NV Energy is a “supporter” to that University?

We all know how the government is SO concerned about our health and safety. 

That’s why they allow the same ingredients used in fireworks and silver polish to be added to our food as a preservative.  (wikipedia.org)

Yup.  I trust the government to have my best interest at heart.