bc hydro smart meter

[Coren]

This may be off topic, but has anyone noticed they still install the analog meters on brand new houses in the areas where the smart meters aren't installed yet?

IMO, that is a waste of money

[TRDood]

Natural gas delivery is regulated. The commodity itself is not.

Originally Posted by RouRK

your comments seem like they are "dumb"

throw the health issues out the window.. let that be the fight for the lawers in court.. cause thats how it needs to be fought.

have none of you seen the news about BC Hydro lately?

Bc Hydro is a crown corp that is POORLy ran.. they are a company that generates electricity and sells it to you... they make the prices.. you don't have a choice but to buy from them... they want to hire 300+ employees they don't need... your rates go up.. the British Columbia Utilities Commission is supposed to assess what and why they are raising the rates.. well they have dropped the ball many times.. look at what the clark government has done with thehydro rate hike... said get your shit together and you can cut your rate hike almost in half to 16 percent down from 30. The smart meter is a start to "peak hour billing".. meaning you use power in certain times and they charge you a LOT More.

take a company like Fortis.. they give you pricing at almost open market pricing... but charge you a little for delivery of gas.. so if gas prices fall then your cost of gas falls. as it has 2 times in the last quarter of 2011.
Gas has been deregulated.. and so should hydro.

i want competetive prices on my utilities and i don't want to be set up for a ass raping on my hydro bill in the future.. cause thats what will happen.
i have had a smart meter for 2.5 years... when i upgraded the service to my house.

the smart meters are all about peak hour billing.

Posted via RS Mobile

[StylinRed]

christy crunch wants to sell our natural gas to china and basically said yesterday that rates are going to have to rise for us to accommodate selling to asia

[Gridlock]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

christy crunch wants to sell our natural gas to china and basically said yesterday that rates are going to have to rise for us to accommodate selling to asia

I'm not a huge fan of the NDP, but huge kudos go to whomever ok'd that ad to go on tv.

[RouRK]

Originally Posted by Lomac

.

Billing during peak hours? Meh. I already run my dishwasher and laundry during the evening/overnight anyway. Stands to reason that the majority of people can do the same as well. Or... don't use your dishwasher and spend ten minutes washing dishes the old fashion way in your sink. Or hang dry your clothes overnight. And don't use the single parent argument. Evening and night is usually when you all get your stuff done after your kid has gone to bed anyway.

that's what i don't get... to you it is OK to be billed more..
i installed a Electric on demand water heater.. i have a family.. i need to use electricity at the peak hours... it is NOT ok for the poorly run company to bill me more.
as the cost of everything goes up and the wages stay the same, how is that fair... i don't get a 16 - 30 % raise over 3 years. The people that work for hydro are over paid and under worked.. if the smart meter wasn't made a big deal of then we would have peak hour billing a lot sooner.. and your bill would be significantly higher. they want all this money for infrastructure..
read this and tell me your still OK with it.. B.C. Hydro deferring billions in debt, watchdog says

Remember this is a company losing money on something that they MAKE and already have their infrastructure in place... how is this possible.

[Gridlock]

Well, the smart meters have a price tag of $1 billion. There is a reason right there to dislike this program. How much do you need to increase rates, or decrease costs to pay for that?

[StylinRed]

holy shit i wasnt aware of that astronomical fee behind the smart meters..... jesus

Im against them now too but too little too late i suppose

[zulutango]

Originally Posted by Soundy

^Hey, what are you doing outside of Police Forum?? Back in your cage!

Damn....caught again!!!

[Matlock]

<sarcasm>Great idea. Let's use less electricity so that we can have some extra to sell to the Americans. </sarcasm>

If I were a criminal, it would be very valuable to have some sort of way to read other people's smart meters. Just look at the neighborhood's information for a month and figure out when people are home or away, then go on a robbing spree.

Seems like a cash grab to me. BC Hydro obviously wants more money as of late. I am an electrician and we usually set up the privately owned poles + electrical service (mast/meterbase/etc.) for all of these houses... but in West Van, BC Hydro has some sort of new code where they have to do it as of now. They must be hungry for more money.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Matlock

<sarcasm>Great idea. Let's use less electricity so that we can have some extra to sell to the Americans. </sarcasm>

That's more money to Hydro that DOESN'T have to come out of your pocket...

If I were a criminal, it would be very valuable to have some sort of way to read other people's smart meters. Just look at the neighborhood's information for a month and figure out when people are home or away, then go on a robbing spree.

You can do that with existing meters. Just walk up to them and look at the dial.

Let me google that for you

You could also sit outside a block of houses for a few days and get plenty of info about people's comings and goings... probably lot more info that you'd get from simply reading their meters.

[Matlock]

With the old meters we are being charged by kilowatt hours (1000 watts being used for one hour) being read by a meter reader once a month. With the new smart meters we are being charged by the kWh data constantly being sent to BC Hydro, plus we get charged more during peak hours. More ways to get nickled and dimed to death.

Originally Posted by Soundy

That's more money to Hydro that DOESN'T have to come out of your pocket...

That doesn't mean they couldn't end up charging us more. In fact, wouldn't it be more of a reason for them to increase prices for us Canadians, if they could also just sell to Americans? Supply vs demand

Originally Posted by Soundy

You can do that with existing meters. Just walk up to them and look at the dial.

Only if you have one person looking at each meter 24/hours a day, marking down kWh in their notepad every hour and then reporting to whoever the brain of the operation would be. Not to mention they would look suspicious.

Now with smart meters, if you were actually able to tap into the information, you wouldn't need all of those people.

-and I know how to read an electric meter, we learn that in school in first year.

[Graeme S]

Originally Posted by RouRK

that's what i don't get... to you it is OK to be billed more..

So there's a little convenience store thingie in the lobby of my building DT. Guy sells coke both cold and warm. I usually buy the warm one just 'cause I don't drink it right away and I pop it in the fridge. Coworker comes with me one day and gets a cold one.

His is about 15c more than mine.

He says "How come you're charging me more 'cause it's cold?"

Guy doesn't miss a beat. He says "How come 7-11 doesn't charge you less if you buy a 2L that's warm?"

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Matlock

With the old meters we are being charged by kilowatt hours (1000 watts being used for one hour) being read by a meter reader once a month. With the new smart meters we are being charged by the kWh data constantly being sent to BC Hydro,

Which still adds up to the same amount at the end of the month, which is when they bill you.

plus we get charged more during peak hours.

No, you don't. You need to stop reading the bullshit you find on the 'net. Whether they plan to implement peak rate times in the future or not, THEY ARE NOT USING THEM NOW.

Only if you have one person looking at each meter 24/hours a day, marking down kWh in their notepad every hour and then reporting to whoever the brain of the operation would be. Not to mention they would look suspicious.

You're right. If someone really wanted to case your house, they'd do it sitting down the street with binoculars. They'd get far more info that way than they ever would reading your electric usage.

Now with smart meters, if you were actually able to tap into the information, you wouldn't need all of those people.

"If."

And you're assuming every two-bit hood is CIA trained, or something. The people who would go to all this trouble, are not the type of people who just want to bust in your door and steal your TV. I think you've been watching too many movies, expecting James Bond to come through your door looking for the stolen plans to the secret military satellite.

[Matlock]

Originally Posted by Soundy

No, you don't. You need to stop reading the bullshit you find on the 'net. Whether they plan to implement peak rate times in the future or not, THEY ARE NOT USING THEM NOW.

I know they aren't charging you more per hour as of yet. But, if you have went to the BC Hydro smart meter display during the 2010 Olympics, you would have seen that it clearly is in the plan to charge more during peak hours. (They say you will save money during low hours, but that's probably just because peak hours will cost more) It is in the plan, it's not bullshit.

In their display they had various "smart" appliances which tell you when peak hours are and you could set up a timer for the clothes washer or drying to turn on at a certain hour. More cash grab for "smart" appliances.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Matlock

In their display they had various "smart" appliances which tell you when peak hours are and you could set up a timer for the clothes washer or drying to turn on at a certain hour. More cash grab for "smart" appliances.

Most people already have "smart" appliances... they're controlled by a brain... attached to the fingers that push their buttons.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone... some people prefer to just let their imaginations run wild rather than actually using their brains

[Gridlock]

Whether they are charging more at different hours or not right now, I have ZERO doubt in my mind that its coming and its happening.

Perfect storm: Bunch of politicos on the global warming bandwagon, new tech that allows it, $1 billion price tag to cover.

I don't know if I necessarily think its "horrible" as it would help a lot with load balancing on the grid. Rates are going to go up regardless, so at least you'd have some way to navigate a lower bill. On the flip side, I think a lot of people are stuck with the energy pattern they use...you can't just superheat your home at 2 am and hope it keeps for the day. Using the dryer at 2 am in the morning is one thing, but the energy usage on a dishwasher not set to dry and a washing machine is not 'that' large. Its the heat creating appliances that use massive electricity.

[Anjew]

Originally Posted by JSS

if you've got nothing illegal to hide whats the big deal?

i hear this thrown around all the time. in fact i hear this get thrown around EVERY TIME our freedoms are about to get scaled back.

[Anjew]

imo i think the smart meters are a step forward, water imo needs to be regulated even more (no charge but investigations made on houses large consumptions). i know and see tons of people wasting water its so infuriating..

one example would be one of my neighbors would have a external faucet leaking in the side of the house and would not fix it for MONTHS...... another would be my mom not telling me about a broken trip lever in the toilet tank which didnt allow a water tight seal around the flush valve. it must have leaked for weeks before she told me.

basic calculation of water waste would yield terrifying numbers.... =(

[Matlock]

Firstly, Soundy. I enjoy talking to you and reading your posts, because you a very good and entertaining troll.

There are also people with smart appliances that use their brains to control their hands to wash clothes in a sink. Believe it or not this uses no electrical energy. :-)

Originally Posted by Anjew

imo i think the smart meters are a step forward, water imo needs to be regulated even more (no charge but investigations made on houses large consumptions). i know and see tons of people wasting water its so infuriating..

one example would be one of my neighbors would have a external faucet leaking in the side of the house and would not fix it for MONTHS...... another would be my mom not telling me about a broken trip lever in the toilet tank which didnt allow a water tight seal around the flush valve. it must have leaked for weeks before she told me.

basic calculation of water waste would yield terrifying numbers.... =(

If you really want to get angry about water, take a look at these commercial refrigeration units where clean water pours straight through, conducting heat and straight into the drain. 24/7!! Now, that's a waste of water!

[kouki_monster]

I actually don't care if they want to change it..

BUT I was fucking pissed about the fact that they went to the back of my house without telling me, and changed it WHICH caused a minute or so power outage..

Couldn't they have given a little warning? Lost a bit of progress on my essay because of that asshole. He also quickly ran to his car without saying a word when I wanted to speak with him (I heard him walk to my doorstep to put the tag on my doorknob).

Wanted to phone and complain but was too behind on homework at the time.

Anyone else have similar experience?

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Matlock

Firstly, Soundy. I enjoy talking to you and reading your posts, because you a very good and entertaining troll.

I wasn't aware that the definition of "trolling" now included calling out idiots spewing mindless drivel.

If you really want to get angry about water, take a look at these commercial refrigeration units where clean water pours straight through, conducting heat and straight into the drain. 24/7!! Now, that's a waste of water!

That water is condensation, out of the air...

[Death2Theft]

Benjamin Franklin (sometimes Thomas Jefferson) is often quoted as saying:
Those who would give up Essential Liberty
to purchase a little Temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither." -- KEVIN CRAIG - "Liberty Under God" Beginning in Missouri's 7th Congressional District

Originally Posted by Anjew

i hear this thrown around all the time. in fact i hear this get thrown around EVERY TIME our freedoms are about to get scaled back.

[Graeme S]

Originally Posted by Death2Theft

Benjamin Franklin (sometimes Thomas Jefferson) is often quoted as saying:
Those who would give up Essential Liberty
to purchase a little Temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither." -- KEVIN CRAIG - "Liberty Under God" Beginning in Missouri's 7th Congressional District

Then delete facebook.

[Nightwalker]

A service provider that you have hired measuring the use of that service hardly seems like an assault on liberty.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Nightwalker

A service provider that you have hired measuring the use of that service hardly seems like an assault on liberty.

That's right... and that little dial ticking over liters on the gas pump is assault on liberty, too.