OGE remotely controlling thermostat?

[Hobbes]

The way I see it is the meter belongs to the electricity company as do the poles and transformers.

If we allow 2 customers in a city to demand their own meter technology, against the business plans of the utility, are we going to allow those customers to dictate what kind of transformers will be allowed on the pole in their back yard?
Can they demand a wood pole instead of a metal pole?

How can a customer dictate to a company what products it is allowed to use to provide it's service?

 

[turkeyrun]

Smartgrid, Smart Meters, and the "smart hours" program are all related but not exactly the same. The smart grid/smart meter stuff is coming whether we like it or not, I'm afraid. Until i'm able to generate all my own power needs, I'll have to get my juice through whatever meter they choose to use, though.

I'm on the Smart Hours program, and I do not have a remotely operated or controlled thermostat. It is programmable, but only by me (or my wife if she understood it ) My wife and kids are home all day so I don't see as much benefit as I would if I could crank up the temps a bit higher without getting complaints. I totally understand the not wanting anyone else to control your thermostat, because I feel the same way.

There is a major need to cut load during the heat of summer. It's a real issue and the smart hours program is a legit concept to try and reduce load during the hottest hours by incentivizing moving residential loads to off-peak hours through a pricing scheme. The infrastructure for generating power is aging and expanding/increasing/maintaining it is expensive and does get passed on to the customer base. Also as environmental regs and such continue to push away from coal fired generation, the increased load on natural gas supply to plants causes plenty of issues as well (which is my background).

They say it is to control cost, so they can remotely read meter. They can regulate your usage also. Switching loads from residential to businesses during peak (ie. business hours) may sound logical in their sales propoganda, but what about the elderly and others who are home during the day. Try working all night and having to sleep during the day and they turn off your a/c so Wally world doesn't have a rate increase. Not all have a choice in who they receive power from. The above post of LE showing up to allow companies to install equipment is not an isolated incident. It has happened numerous times.

Smart grid, smart meters and smart power are 3 patrs of the same controls being placed on us. We have no 'right' to cheap power, but we have the right to NOT be forced into accepting what a company tries to force feed us with gubiment backing.

 

[Billybob]

Sure you can. Go buy yourself some solar panels, or a wind generator, or even a natural gas-fired generator and tell OG&E to go stuff themselves. There's nothing that says you have to do business with them at all.

Some of that depends on where you live. But you're correct if one has enough money to set up a "proper", (approved by zoning, building codes, etc.) system then one could be more independent.

 

[Billybob]

The way I see it is the meter belongs to the electricity company as do the poles and transformers.

If we allow 2 customers in a city to demand their own meter technology, against the business plans of the utility, are we going to allow those customers to dictate what kind of transformers will be allowed on the pole in their back yard?
Can they demand a wood pole instead of a metal pole?

How can a customer dictate to a company what products it is allowed to use to provide it's service?

When there are questions as to possible harm?

 

[Hobbes]

When there are questions as to possible harm?

Make it proof instead of questions and we might have a deal.
And by that I mean a scientific study that is peer reviewed and not just a youtube allegation that smart meters cause cancer or something like that.

Oh and no infowars propaganda either LOL.

 

[Billybob]

Make it proof instead of questions and we might have a deal.
And by that I mean a scientific study that is peer reviewed and not just a youtube allegation that smart meters cause cancer or something like that.

Oh and no infowars propaganda either LOL.

Until we get conclusive "proof" shouldn't we at least acknowledge other information/dissenting opinions that may lead to that proof?

http://maisonsaine.ca/smart-meters-correcting-the-gross-misinformation/

 

[LightningCrash]

Because the health/privacy issues weren't present,(or considered in the realm of possible) when the contract was signed?

and there is the answer.

 

[Billybob]

and there is the answer.

If you say so.

 

[Hobbes]

Well crap. If I was those folks I wouldn't allow tricity in my house at all.

You know, when my grandparents first electricity installed in their house in the late 50's, they had the electrical outlets installed at waist level because they didn't want the juice to run out on the floor.

True story.

 

[LOKNLOD]

They say it is to control cost, so they can remotely read meter. They can regulate your usage also. Switching loads from residential to businesses during peak (ie. business hours) may sound logical in their sales propoganda, but what about the elderly and others who are home during the day. Try working all night and having to sleep during the day and they turn off your a/c so Wally world doesn't have a rate increase. Not all have a choice in who they receive power from. The above post of LE showing up to allow companies to install equipment is not an isolated incident. It has happened numerous times.

Smart grid, smart meters and smart power are 3 patrs of the same controls being placed on us. We have no 'right' to cheap power, but we have the right to NOT be forced into accepting what a company tries to force feed us with gubiment backing.

Yes, they do control costs by being able to remotely read. The people most upset about that should be the former meter readers who don't have jobs reading meters. They also allow remote service disconnections for nonpayment and such, I believe. So yeah, I guess technically they have the ability to turn off your power remotely. They've got not reason to do that unless you stop paying. Beyond that, no one is controlling how much energy I use at my home except for me. If I want it to be 65 in my house all day every day, so be it, as long as I'm willing to pay for it (my AC couldn't keep it 65 in my house during our recent summers even if i tried, but that's beside the point). If I've chosen to be in the smart hours program, that would be a pretty stupid combo, but that's my prerogative. If I don't have the ability or desire to use less power during the peak load times, then I don't have to be sign up for the smart hours program pricing scheme.

The smart meters do not forcibly switch load from residential to commercial use. They allow the power company to track usage over time and apply different rates to different time periods, as a way to create incentives for certain usage patterns. Individuals have the ability to alter their usage patterns based on when they aren't home and such, or what time they choose to run laundry and all. A lot of houses sit empty during the afternoon hours while people are at work and it's a way of motivating them to turn off some load when they aren't there. There is only so much power generation capacity that the infrastructure can support and as population grows it does strain the system.

Everybody recommends a programmable thermostat, and the whole purpose of that is to do exactly the same thing as what the smart hours program is trying to do. Reduce load when it's not needed to save money. The power company has an interest in that for some different variations on the reason than the individual does, but either way it comes down to using less electricity and saving money by doing so.

Of course not all of us - very few, really -- have any choice in where we get our power. I certainly don't.

Look, I like my tinfoil as much as the next guy, and really, anytime stuff changes, it's important to look deeper than taking sales pitches at face value. I get that. But I think you're both mislead and misinformed on this issue. The smart hours stuff is certainly not for everyone. But it's voluntary. And the remote thermostat stuff is even more voluntary. If you don't want to do it, don't do it.

Maybe someday our power company overlords will rule our every move through the smart meters, but I think that is quite a leap from where we're at. Frogs in pots and all, I know, but I only have so much foil to go around and it would be better used lining my attic to deflect some heat.

All the other discussion on making homes more energy efficient is great. If anyone was thinking that the smart hours or programmable The more energy efficient your home is, the more you'd benefit from the smart hours stuff, because you'd be more temp-stable in those periods when trying not to use power.

For whatever it's worth, and in the interest of full disclosure, my employment is related to OGE although I have nothing to do with the electrical utility, smart grid, smart meters, smart hours, or anything else on that side of the business. I won't claim to be smart or having anything to do with smarts :p I say all these things as an OGE customer and fellow Okie, not as somebody towin' any company line. I really don't care at all if you don't want to use the programs because they don't work for you, because I'm still not sure they work for me (wife and two kids home all day all summer want to be cool!). I realize this probably makes me suspect but it is what it is.