I attended the community town hall meeting on Smart Grid technology, hosted by State Representative Bob Pritchard, held Tuesday, October 11th at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau as did at least 50 other interested people. From 6-7pm, the lobby was a buzz with demonstrations by the various companies invited by Rep. Pritchard, to educate the public about Smart Grid Technology.
At 7pm, the speakers included what I thought was a very well rounded group of presenters including Ross Hemphill, ComEd Vice President of Regulatory Strategies; David Kolata, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board (CUB); K.C. Poulus, Sustainability Manager at Village of Oak Park, in charge of part of ComEd’s pilot project on smart meters; Anne McKibbin, Center for Neighborhood Technology and Randy Gucwa, S&C Electric Company, developer of the Smart Grid Meters.
The benefits described by all the speakers certainly convinced me of the need to upgrade our system. Our electricity system in Illinois is very old and I have personal experience with how electricity is being more effectively delivered in other parts of the country. In Mesa, Arizona, electric customers pre-pay their electric with a top up card. That card is inserted in a box in the customer’s home, that tells them how much electricity they are consuming in real time. Customers, armed with better data, can and do significantly reduce their electricity bills with this information. As an example, data shows that right now, 10% of residential consumption in Illinois is a result of ‘phantom power’, power being drawn from electric devices that are plugged in but not being used. Customers in the pilot program quickly learned to unplug electric devices when not in use and consequently brought their bills down.
Consumer savings from the Smart Grid Technology system was three times more than the cost of installation (in the pilot program). Customers will not need to call ComEd when their power goes off because they will already know. The Smart Grid can be self healing, finding it’s own solutions to problems. Having a faster fix for electric down times will benefit the consumer, eliminating down time and the need to throw out spoiled food. The Smart Grid technology also has the potential to help Illinois with economic development in this time where it is currently losing many businesses.
The cost for this $1.1 billion dollar investment is said to average 2 1/2 – 3% of residential customer’s current electricity bill. The average cost on the residential customer’s bill will be $3 per month for ten years. But, remember, customers in the pilot program saved three times that much by changing their electricity consumption patterns with the data provided.
Information about the actual legislation proposed was glaringly missing from yesterday’s presentation. AARP was present and passed out flyers describing why they are against the current legislation. Weakened reliability and consumer protections, annual rate hikes and higher utility profits are among their concerns.
Governor Pat Quinn’s office was quoted in their flyers as saying, “With energy prices dropping, the Governor strongly believes there is a way to attract new investment to modernize our electric grid, while protecting consumers and creating jobs.” Even John Rowe, CEO of ComEd’s parent Exelon Corp. voiced doubts in a recent speech saying, “Illinois legislators served up what can only be described as ComEd’s dream come true. What company wouldn’t love to have a law guaranteeing it double-digit returns.”
Calling the Smart Grid technology “the energy equivalent to the internet” in terms of how it will change our lives, CUB Executive Director David Kolata said that CUB is cautiously optimistic about Smart Grid Technology but sees problems in the legislation that is currently proposed. Knowing that the bill was written by Commonwealth Edison should raise flags to anyone watching closely.
I agree with others who say fix the bill and bring it back. Illinois needs to upgrade it’s infrastructure including it’s electric. Illinois needs jobs and viable businesses to get back on the right track. Efficient electricity usage benefits all of us. It was said that the cost of creating one new coal or nuclear plant would be much greater than the cost of installing the entire Smart Grid system. Let’s not let this drop because the bill was written by ComEd. I also disagree with the idea that this bill is better than nothing. Legislators, please fix it and bring it back.
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Here is a letter I sent to rep Pritchard on the Com Ed Smart Grid Bill with HE SUPPORTS. I had a long conversation with Mr Pritchard on the phone on Thursday 10-21. He seems to have a different view as to how much the Annual guarantee Com E rate increase would be. He told me it would amount to about 2% a year. Attourney General Madigan, in an interview with ABC7 in indicated we can expect a 9% annual rate increase PER YEAR. It is my hope that Rep Pritchard takes a moment to review the facts before he forces his constituents to fork over 9% more a year to Com Ed
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Dear Rep Pritchard:
I know we discussed some aspects of the smart grid technology in our conversation the other day. It is my understanding that this technology will incorporate the use of “SMART METERS” at our residences. Here is some additional food for thought (a must read on Smart meters) They are not all they are cracked up to be. Knowing what I know now, I’m not so sure I want a Smart meter on my home.
Some not so friendly aspects of smart meter technology include:
PRIVACY ISSUES: “The smart meter will not only keep track of howmuch electricity you are using, but it will be able to control, regulate, and ration your use of thatelectricity. If “com ed” decides that you are using too much heat in the winter time, or too much air conditioning in the summer time, or using too much hot water in your showers or washing machine (even if you are willing to pay for that extra usage), that use of power will be automatically turned down.”
One of the propaganda ads about the SmartMeter was that this will be a way to save energy and lower costs, but many who already have the meter are finding out that is not the case. A man called to find out why his rates had gone up and was told that now that the meter could read exactly what time of the day that he was washing his clothes or using his air conditioner, PG&E could determine if that was “peak time” or not, and since it was “peak time” then he would have to pay “peak premium rates.” If he wanted to save money then he could wash his clothes in the middle of the night or use his other appliances at that time, or his air conditioner then (when he really didn’t need it anymore because the temperature is cooler). Many other people have reported dramatic increases in their rates, not decreases.
Health Risks: People who are doing their own research on SmartMeters are finding out that not only is this an invasion of their privacy and property, their energy rates are increasing, but there is an enormous health risk with so much exposure to electromagnetic/radioactive waves
More information is here:
http://www.refusesmartmeter.com/smart%20meter%20aug%2026.pdf
In light of this I urge your to vote NO on overriding Governor Quinn’s veto of of the Com Ed 10 year guaranteed rate hike/Smart Grid Bill (SB 1652)
Thank You
Mark Charvat
Dekalb, IL