We’ve written on the blog in the past about smart meter technology being introduced and used in many homes. As a reminder, this technology has the ability to monitor energy usage by a household and, when necessary, signal appliances and energy systems within that home to decrease consumption for a given period of time – usually during peak energy load times. For example, the smart grid may automatically tell your air conditioner or heat system to change a few degrees or could signal your freezer to turn off for an hour to limit overall energy consumption. The adoption of this new technology is moving forward with rapid pace. In our area, Seattle City Light just announced plans to replace all of their traditional meters with smart meters by 2015.
Many homeowners have seen cost and efficiency benefits from the new technology and overall effectiveness for energy savings has been very positive. Aside from energy savings, the program and technology has already proven extremely effective when it comes to alerting power companies of outages or potential outages, in some cases even allowing problems to be remedied without the deployment of energy company staff, utility workers and equipment.
However, there are still some privacy concerns for some homeowners regarding the constant monitoring of their individual energy usage. Some homeowners feel that the “always-on” monitoring of these smart meter devices is an invasion of personal privacy and are opposed to the constant data collection on their energy consumption. This is an issue that was fully expected by utility companies and government organizations even before the introduction of the technology. Federal initiatives were developed and are being used to address the education of consumers on smart grid technologies, uses and benefits. In fact, there is even a new U.S. Department of Energy working group that is focused on smart grid customer education.
Still, this education isn’t enough for some homeowners. One such couple in North Bend, Washington, Larry and Christy Costello, are opposed to smart meter technology monitoring their home. They are suing their electricity provider over the implementation of smart meter technology. “The issue that we have with the smart meter technology is that it really is an invasion of privacy to the homeowner,” said Larry Costello. “I don’t want to be told when I can run my dishwasher and when I can run my refrigerator. So those are my concerns and also knowing when I’m home and when I’m not home.” You can watch the video below to hear this couple’s concerns.
The Tanner Co-Op electric utility, which serves the Costellos, defends that the data and information that is collected by the smart meters doesn’t go as far as some customers think. They feel that more education will allow customers to see the benefits of the technology and show the homeowners that it isn’t an invasion of privacy. Despite some backlash, many homeowners aren’t opposed to smart meter technology. In fact, according to Tanner Co-Op, only two customers out of roughly 5,000 have opted out of the implementation of technology.
The smart meter privacy saga will undoubtedly continue. For this reason, Seattle City Light is accepting comments and feedback from its customers before and during the installation of the smart meters over the next year. You can visit their site to learn more about the implementation of smart grid technology in our area.
