Sedona AZ (April 29, 2015) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor:
Another Utility Lie Exposed – “Smart” meters are little used for outage alerts.
Information & Perspective by Warren Woodward
Sedona, Arizona ~ April 29, 2015
As part of their “smart” meter propaganda, utilities nationwide – including ones in Arizona – have promoted a myth that “smart” meters reduce their response time to outages. For example, here’s a typical sampling of website hype from four Arizona utilities:
Navopache Electric Coop: “… AMI helps locate and respond to outages faster ….”
Mohave Electric Coop: “… improve system reliability through improved outage management ….”
APS: “In addition, the meters have the potential to assist APS in providing faster outage response to customers.”
SRP: “More benefits will include quicker outage restoration ….”
Gee whiz, ain’t “smart” meter technology grand?! Indeed, SRP headlined its webpage “TOMORROW’S GRID TODAY” in enormous font.
The reality however is what I have been telling the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) for years: Utilities still rely on customers to tell them when the power’s out.
My assertion has just been confirmed by the BRIDGE Energy Group, self-described as “the leading consulting and systems integration solutions company focused on improving utility operational performance.” BRIDGE recently released their 2015 Outage & Restoration Management Survey Results Summary. Over 20,000 utility employees – executives, managers and engineers – from 90 utilities across North America were surveyed.
- 81% of the surveyed utilities had installed “smart” meters, but only 16% use “smart” meters as their primary source of power failure alerts. Customer calls come first.
Secondarily – after customer calls, but well before “smart” meters – utilities rely on SCADA systems for outage alerts. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. It is technology employed by utilities for decades and does not involve metering but operates at the transformer and substation level.
Due to public outcry, APS has extended its opt out deadline. Opt out now! Contact www.SedonaSmartMeterAwareness.com for info.
I brought SCADA to the ACC’s attention over a year ago when I sent them the declaration of one of New England’s largest utilities, Northeast Utilities. Northeast trashed “smart” meters in detail, saying there was “no rational basis” for their implementation, and that “smart” meters did not reduce outages or “modernize” the electricity grid.
- On page 4 of Northeast’s comments to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Northeast explains:
“For example, utilizing SCADA-enabled smart switches will both reduce outages and mitigate the effects that outages have on customers. Substation monitoring, remote controls and microprocessor relays can mitigate the impact of widespread outages; manage load constraints; and help to optimize the use of assets in real time.”[my 2/12/14 letter to the ACC including Northeast’s complete statement is here: http://images.edocket.azcc.gov/docketpdf/0000151238.pdf ]
BRIDGE’s full report is here: https://www.bridgeenergygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015-BRIDGE-Survey-ORM-Results-Summary-final1.pdf . Slow-learners at the ACC need not fret over its 19 page length. It’s mostly very large print, pictures and pie charts – so simple even a child could understand.
Warren Woodward
Sedona AZ
Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!
Warren, I noticed a disparaging comment referencing you was posted under another column on Sedona Eye, and this is to acknowledge my personal appreciation for the number of hours you, Nancy Baer, Monnie Ramsell, Smart Meter Awareness, and others have spent to research in depth the negative impacts of Smart Meters.
Other comments from far and wide have been posted on Sedona Eye commending you for your undying efforts, and IMO it’s unfortunate your input was rejected by a local print newspaper. But, of course, editorial license is always held by the publisher of news productions and that, unfortunately, isn’t always in the best interest of subscribers.
Best wishes for continued success to all who remain dedicated to looking out for the good of the public in general and not just special interest groups.
Eddie Maddock
Thanks for all the investigative work! No smart meters should be allowed in the city limits!
Thanks.
Dear Sirs and Madams,
These Electric Microwave A.M.I so-called Smart Meters are a confidence trick simply to spy on people’s energy use and charge people more and more for electricity.
These accursed machines are making more and more people sick from the accursed and poisonous to humans and animals and insects such as the honey bees and lady-birds which kill harmful and plant sucking aphids etc. These machines also gradually kill delicate creepers in hanging baskets close to these accursed and idiotic poisonous machines, which are now a scourge across more and more on of Planet Earth. I am one of some hundreds of thousands of us in Victoria Australia who have padlocked our Safe and Passive Analog Electric Meters to stop them being stolen. I hit the CEO of the Electric Company for our area with a Lawful Canberra A.C.C.C fine for 10,000,000 Dollars which is an Anti Harassment Notice. They had only 14 days in which to write to me. Even one day over that date forces them legally to obey my and the Canberra’s ACCC Anti Harassment Notice to stop contacting me by phone or mail or my lawyers and the Canberra ACCC will drag the C.E.O and his lawyer through the Common Law Court to be fined Ten Million Dollars…..$10,000,000 and or face a very long prison sentence to boot !
Are you complaining about this as you talk on your cell phone.
It sure is nice for a rental property manager to be able to call up and
have the power switched off and on and the meter read.