Texans revolt against.... smarter electric meters?

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Smart meter installations stir rowdy response from gun-toting, cage-building Texans

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DALLAS — Thelma Taormina keeps a pistol at her Houston-area home to protect against intruders. But one of the last times she used it, she said, was to run off a persistent utility company worker who was trying to replace her old electricity meter with a new digital unit.

“This is Texas.” she declared at a recent public hearing on the new meters. “We have rights to choose what appliances we want in our home.”

A nationwide effort to upgrade local power systems with modern equipment has run into growing resistance in Texas, where suspicion of government and fear of electronic snooping have made a humble household device the center of a politically charged showdown over personal liberty.

Some angry residents are building steel cages around their electric meters, threatening installers who show up with new ones and brandishing Texas flags at boisterous hearings about the utility conversion. At a recent hearing at the state Capitol in Austin, protesters insisted everyone present recite the Pledge of Allegiance before the meeting could begin.

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@DrewDad,

God bless texas...

"At a recent hearing at the state Capitol in Austin, protesters insisted everyone present recite the Pledge of Allegiance before the meeting could begin."

because we all know that once you say the pledge, you cannot tell a lie...

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First it's meters and then video cams throughout the house, with voices commenting and issuing orders.

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@DrewDad,

They should have taken the approach of spreading propaganda stating that the old meters have been overcharging people when they wear out, then the tobacco chewing Texans, already angry over higher tobacco and booze prices, might use their few remaining brain cells to approve the digital meter, hoping to afford more cheap cigars and 40 ounce beers, rubbers or gas for their hog. They might add the new devices reduce electrical resistance and heat loss, resulting in savings, that can be used for Texas hookers in front of Hooters.

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@TimeTravel ,

Here in British Columbia, we are right in the midst of having smart meters installed. The job is well underway, with completion probably in a few more months.

Lots of controversy here for various reasons, but the one that gets me going is the possibility that "time of use" billing will be put into play at some point. In other words, you'll get a discount if you use electicity at non-peak hours. I can just see it: "Sorry kids, you can't eat for a couple of more hours until it's cheaper for us to turn the stove on". Mad

TimeTravel wrote:

They should have taken the approach of spreading propaganda stating that the old meters have been overcharging people when they wear out ...

I was a meter reader for 20 years, and I can tell you right now, that line won't wash.

If anything, as a meter ages, it may slow down, not speed up. So, in other words, you would be paying less with an aging meter.

Nice try though! Laughing

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@Reyn,

Thanks Reyn. Why don't we just build more nuclear plants and lower bills so we can afford a new industrial revolution, and reverse global warming by storing carbon instead of releasing it. Time of use billing might be great for some people, who can change their nap time to peak use hours. Already businesses pay extra here, because liberal barbarians who hate business took over the government.

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