German Ministry of Economics will not follow EU recommendations to install smart meters for 80 percent of consumers. The ministry reviewed a cost-benefit analysis by Ernst & Young and is concerned that the greatest share of the costs could fall to households while the bulk of benefit could go to industrial consumers with larger opportunities to reduce power consumption and leverage load shifting. Ernst & Young’s study found higher costs than benefits for average households, reported Magdalena Klemun for GTM Research.

Sedona AZ (August 6, 2013) – In an open letter to the SedonaEye.com and the Arizona Corporation Commission, Arizona Public Service (APS) ratepayer Warren Woodward writes:

Commissioners,

The “smart” meter boondoggle continues to be exposed, this time in Germany.

After commissioning a feasibility study by “Big Four” accounting firm Ernst & Young, Germany’s Economy Ministry has proclaimed the European Union’s proposal for 80% of homes to be “smart” metered by 2020 as “inadvisable” since installation costs would be greater than energy saved. [Bloomberg News, “Germany Rejects EU Smart-Meter Recommendations on Cost Concerns”, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-08-01/germany-rejects-eu-smart-meter-recommendations-on-cost-concerns] 

This echoes the findings of three states’ Attorneys General which I have brought to your attention several times in the past but which you have chosen to ignore, to the detriment of the Arizona ratepayers you were elected to serve.

• Connecticut A.G.: “…the costs associated with the full deployment of AMI [“smart”] meters are huge and cannot be justified by energy savings achieved.

• Illinois A.G.: “The utilities have shown no evidence of billions of dollars in benefits to consumers from these new meters, but they have shown they know how to profit.”

• Michigan A.G.: “A net economic benefit to electric utility ratepayers from … smart meter programs has yet to be established.”

Like its German counterpart, the ACC is tasked with the responsibility to protect AZ ratepayers by studying the costs and benefits of all state utility requests.

German ratepayers are fortunate to have a Economic Ministry sensible enough to do the independent feasibility study that for ages I have been urging you to perform on behalf of Arizona ratepayers. 

As a real-life example of what happens when regulators such as yourselves don’t do their homework, I’ll remind you that Central Maine Power (CMP) is now being audited by Maine’s Public Utility Commission (PUC). CMP promised $363 million in savings from “smart” meters but in just three years CMP came begging for an 8% rate increase because the $363 million turned into a $99 million cost – and all because Maine’s PUC did no independent feasibility study beforehand and believed utility lies instead.

Wake up, ACC!

“Smart” meters are a toxic boondoggle that violate health, privacy and property.

Sincerely,

Warren Woodward

Cc: Governor Jan Brewer, Attorney General Tom Horne

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