FPL To Install 4.5 million Smart Meters (Palm Beach: houses, utilities, costs)

[wondermint2]

FPL to install 4.5 million 'smart meters' | HeraldTribune.com (click for full article)

"Florida Power and Light plans to install 4.5 million "smart meters" throughout the state, which they say will make their response time to power outages quicker, allow homeowners to track their energy usage, and eliminate the need for human meter-readers.

FPL officials say traditional meters still use the same technology as they did 100 years ago. They say the new meters will bring electricity usage into the modern era.

ABOUT THE METERS

•Energy usage can be tracked hour-by-hour, day-by-day or month-by-month online, allowing users to potentially identify areas where they can reduce their consumption. Customers will get online login information through the mail when the meters are installed. "

[Sunshine Rules]

Nice little PR piece by FPL, but I tend to agree with others that there are some additional motives behind the push for smart meters, and those motives tend to mean more cost for consumers, more profits for FPL.

In another article from the Palm Beach Post it is mentioned that with the smart meters FPL can eventually charge more for power usage during designated "peak" periods, they could switch customers over to variable rates.

FPL getting smart on energy use


Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocate, said the time-of-use pricing shifts the electric load but does not reduce it.

"For every consumer who gets a lower bill, someone is getting a higher one. We should be rewarding conservation, rather than rewarding usage whether it is off-peak usage or not," Spatt said.

"In California we have not seen benefits from smart meters anywhere near commensurate with the cost of the meters," Spatt added. "For the meter to be cost-effective, the consumer would need to have a substantially lower bill over a long period of time; otherwise the consumer has gained nothing."

[Hemlock140]

The consumer cannot benefit from smart meters. The utilities would not invest so much in the meters and installations unless they expected to recover that expense in a short period of time.
Some of that will be savings from less meter readers, but most is coming from the ratepayers.

[Harbor Hopper]

FPL just announced in an email to customers yesterday that they have requested a rate increase from the state utilities board. I think it will equate to around $6-8/month for "normal usage" customers.

[loves2read]

And they will get it
Just being tracked like that means they can probably find grow houses fairly easily if they check usage and sq ft from county records
The Amazing Oz pulling strings behind the curtains...

[surferguy]

poof goes more jobs.

[SellingSRQ]

I think it is creepy. I got the email but I am not going to have one installed. My electricity is cheap anyway and I can conserve on my own

[Picshooter]

Do any of us really know their reasoning? I could guess at 3

1: They save on meter readers. From employee costs to vehicle costs

2: They can shut off the power remotely. This prevents angry residents from confronting employees.

3: Help prevent the theft of meters / electricity

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by Picshooter

Do any of us really know their reasoning? I could guess at 3

1: They save on meter readers. From employee costs to vehicle costs

2: They can shut off the power remotely. This prevents angry residents from confronting employees.

3: Help prevent the theft of meters / electricity

I have read that these new meters do a much better job of picking up low wattage "trickle electricity" (things that might generate only a few watts of usage). I'm talking about an alarm clock, answering machine, electronics on "standby" mode, etc. Apparently the older meters didn't do a very good job of this.

[wondermint2]

Web fuels angst over new FPL smart meters | HeraldTribune.com