Smart Meter Burned to a PulpAt the February 21st meeting, the Commission on a 4/1 vote with Triolo dissenting, approved the submission of an application for an Energy Grant in the amount of $500,000. Not one time during the meeting was it communicated to the public that this was a matching grant. It was said that we had $410,000 in our Machinery and Equipment Budget for year 2011/2012. The Utilities Director implied that this budget was to be used for communications. Mayor Triolo was against one aspect of its usage in pursuing this Grant, Smart Metering, as there have been reported fires and brain cancers due to these meters.
Many of these smart meters have been reviewed by expert scientists. Got to Bio Initiative. They include harmful effects such as damage to DNA in living cells that can lead to cancer, loss of fertility, brain damage due to the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and neuronal hyperactivity leading to autism in children.
From the back-up: It is anticipated that approximately twelve (12) awards each in the amount of $500,000 in federal funds, with a minimum cost share requirement of fifty percent (50%) for total allowable costs (i.e., the sum of the federal share and the recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable costs of the project), will be made nationwide under Phase I. Becky Mattey is not even sure if this Grant fits our needs. The Utility wants to go after the money just in case.
The irony of all of this is, the Vice Mayor keeps bitching and works himself into a frenzy about possible cost over-runs at our beach for turtle lights and such but he didn't blink an eye when it came to approving this Grant application for Smart Metering. This is a lot of money to spend (one million dollars of taxpayer's money whether one half is federal grant money and the other half taxpayer money right here in Lake Worth) in order for we the consumer to be able to "download our hourly consumption data in order to better manage electricity consumption." I guess the Vice Mayor thought that this possible expenditure of matching funds might be A-OK if the U.S. Department of Energy thinks it fits our needs. He did say, "If we don't get the money some other city will."
Just because someone gives you a gift doesn't mean that you have to accept it or...even want it. Usually there is some type of political string attached and you might end up with a "maze" made of pavers that takes away green space at Bryant Park. Take the beach redevelopment as a prime example. We had $3.5 million at one time in our beach fund. We could have fixed up our beach ourselves and told the County to go to blankety blank. Just because we have money in the budget allocated for something does not mean we absolutely must spend it.
Hey, just turn off the lights and raise that thermostat a degree or two. It will do wonders.
What was the actual cause of that meter burning. Incorrect installation or somebody tampering with the meter.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is related to incompatibility between the new meters and older electrical home wiring.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that. Probably lightning hit something. Did the house burn?
ReplyDeletePlease let's not make any progress in Lake Worth. Let's make sure we have plenty of shuffleboard courts for people who don't live here most of the year and pleeeeeeease don't upgrade our utility so that we can lower operating costs (like FPL has done for decades). We like living in the past! And we won't know what to do if we can't complain about our utility costs. What will we blog about if everything gets fixed and people under the age of 72 want to move here?
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with living in the past. Tourists bring money. National attactions bring in MONEY. So, I am bewildered as to why you have on blinders here. We have football games at our highschool. Competition comes from various cities. They make money from this competition at the gat, selling programs, etc. We are not going to make money competing with each other. We have the facility, let's use it to our best advantage.
ReplyDeleteMost seniors bring their resources with them once they retire from the North. They are not coming here licing on food stamps.
ReplyDeleteoh, haha. I just had to comment again.
ReplyDeleteOf course, utilities are too stupid to install meters that are actually compatible with the existing wiring. Because, what would they know about electrical wiring?!
Oh, by the way, wiring is wiring. There is no compatibility issue, unless you're trying to run your new hot tub off the breaker for your fricking toaster.
The news station that reported on this actually debunked most of the ridiculous objections to smart metering. It's the same news station that reported that more illegal immigrants have been deported during Obama's one term than under both of Bush's terms. The same station that reported a decrease in unemployment under Obama, especially in Michigan where the bailout saved American auto manufacturers and MILLIONS of jobs downstream of the manufacturers.
So one must ask, Lynn . . . how do you decide what to believe and what not to believe?
Obama supporters can't see any other side of any argument. So, I will throw your questions right back at ya. You can use your name on your posts. That's ok and acceptable here.
ReplyDeleteThere is no cause for concern with the radio frequency (RF) radiation of Smart Meters. That’s because the wireless devices produce an infrequent and incredibly weak RF field.
ReplyDeleteThe meters not only exceed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) safety standards, but the mainstream scientific groups including the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute, Health Canada and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention all say that low-intensity RF is safe.
I think a lot of people are against smart metering b/c in general your bill goes and no one seems to know why. Were the old meters not capturing use or are the new meters defective?
ReplyDeleteAlso many people are against smart metering b/c of privacy issues. The smart meters enable the utility company, in our town, the city to have hour by hour details regarding energy use. And to the extent that the information is collected via radio frequency it may or may not be secure, meaning that others may be able to hack into smart meters and gather this data. There are questions about who owns the data from smart meters and what can be done with it. Can it be sold to others, no one seems to know.
There is also concern that smart meters will eventually be used to charge more for energy used during peak hours. Think of congestion pricing. Probably it would start out with rewarding customers for not using too much energy during peak times but eventually may change to charging more over time.
As someone who got a $3000 water bill from the City of LW, a reading error, I'm not against the concept of smart meters, but there are tons of issues associated with them that really should be addressed and dealt with before we move forward.