Are Smart Meters Cost Effective?
When it comes to costs regarding Smart Meters (SMs), the way their ‘windsock’ is blowing tells us that there’s a lot of uncertainty about consumers saving on their electric bills. Internet and personal stories confirm that many, if not most, electric utility bills have doubled – or even gone higher – after a Smart Meter was retrofitted on to private homes.
Furthermore, no one, including state public utility commissions, seems to want to address what appears to be “bait and switch” advertising promoting SMs or, the utilities—with the permission of states regulatory agencies—are perfectly satisfied legally ripping off consumers due to the way SMs can err or malfunction, then reset themselves with no trace of an error, which apparently is due to computer programs that run the SMs. [1]
As far as I understand the way it goes, before such innovative programs are to be installed in the public domain, feasibility studies on both costs and savings have to be done and presented to regulators first. Personally, I have to wonder how many utilities really do perform cost and savings feasibility studies and make them available as public information.
However, several states’ attorneys general performed such feasibility studies, and found some very interesting figures that aren’t favorable when it comes to savings!
Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness (PASMA) sent out a Press Release on July 28, 2015 that stated
“SMART METERS ARE NOT COST EFFECTIVE PER SEVERAL USA STATES ATTORNEYS GENERAL.” That PR documents costs and “savings” relative to SMs, which I think my readers will find interesting. I have permission to quote verbatim PASMA’s Press Release.
