When a cry such as "Crimes against humanity!" echoes in a
regulatory chamber over the installation of interval meters,
not only do you have an instructive incident for utilities
to consider, you have a full-blown anthropological study on
your hands.
I refer to the hearing on PG&E's opt-out options at the
California Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 1, covered
via the Web by my colleague Kate Rowland, resulting in her
piece last week, "From Health Claims to Orwellian
Accusations ..." That piece was preceded by a string of
three columns by yours truly on the same topic, "PG&E Smart
Meter Opt-out: Decision By Regulators," "California: Mob
Rule On Analog Opt-out Solution?" and "California: A Future
With ... Analog Meters."
In an age when the duly elected president of the United
States is subjected to claims that he is not a citizen, when
contenders for the presidential nomination of the opposing
party claim to not "believe" in evolution, when conspiracy
theorists suggest that our own military and intelligence
organizations were "behind" 9/11, when the Federal Reserve
Bank draws the ire of ... whoever those people are, you're
on a slippery slope. And it's greased.
Enter interval meters, wireless or otherwise. Let's suppose
that a utility has used a heavy hand to attempt to defeat an
initiative to allow local choice over electricity and its
delivery. Suppose that utility has decided to install
millions of those meters in its territory, the same
territory containing local governments it has attempted to
run roughshod over. Further suppose that in significant
pockets of that territory, indoor marijuana growing thrives,
for profit and personal use. Suppose times are hard, times
are changing, times are bewildering, even scary. Suppose you
have a problem on your hands. That's PG&E and its northern
California territory, standing before the CPUC.
It's worth taking a long look at the cultural context for
this situation because it reveals just how extreme some
elements have become, with potential impacts on grid
modernization. Just as we gain the means to modernize the
electric grid through science, technology and enlightened,
collective action, so we stumble, shriek and point fingers
at one another, dividing and conquering ... ourselves. Does
that sound like a strong nation with a vision for the
future? Does that sound like an industry that can get its
job done?
A recent article in The New York Times did an admirable job
in painting the context for the power industry's piece of
this unraveling tapestry.
Unfortunately, the Times was behind the curve when it
identified "activists with ties to the Tea Party" as the
ones "railing against all sorts of local and state efforts
to control sprawl and conserve energy." Memo to the Times:
see smart meters, Marin and Mendocino counties, for the same
sentiments spewing from the left, too. One protester in
Virginia "identified smart meters, devices being installed
by utility companies to collect information on energy use,
as part of the conspiracy. 'The real job of smart meters is
to spy on you and control you—when you can and cannot use
electrical appliances,' she said."
One county planner said that protesters at what used to be
routine county planning meetings "say they want non-polluted
air and clean water and everything we promote and support,
but they also say it's a communist movement."
"I really don't understand what they want," the planner
said.
This article conveniently hit the Web the same day I
received an email with the subject line "ICLEI's Murder
Meters and Spy Grid Turning Mr. Roger [sic] Neighborhood
into Electronic Internment Camps." ICLEI stands for the
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
and is said to be at the center of U.N. efforts to rob
Americans of ... everything. There is a U.N. program dubbed
"Agenda 21" that emphasizes sustainable development. Now it
is the rallying cry of the xenophobic and the paranoid,
who've taken to thwarting local initiatives to grow and
develop intelligently.
The opening statement in the email read: "Smart meters is
[sic] a grid designed to control and incarcerate the public.
It is a project from the science of the Department of
Defense overseen by MITRE the intelligence operation under
former James Schlesinger located in McLean, Virginia."
How does that one grab you? Apart from the parallel universe
in spelling, punctuation and sentence fragments, that is.
Perhaps you'd like to visit this website for more, Refuse
Smart Meter.
"Murder meters and the Spy Grid were designed by agencies
that are informally coordinated under David Boran (skull &
bones). Radio waves directed as weapons via frequencies and
spying with calculated two way communication devices. There
are records on file originating from U.S. Army Intelligence
and Security Command ..." Etc., etc.
All of this would be laughable, except one conclusion
reached by the Times—that projects, even discussions, of
major public issues are being canceled due to the
vociferousness of the tin-foil hat crowd.
"It sounds a little on the weird side, but we've found we
ignore it at our own peril," said George Homewood, a vice
president of the American Planning Association's chapter in
Virginia, quoted by the Times.
Do I need to make any further points here? Or has the
rejection of science and the mistrust of
institutions—particularly those that are installing digital
meters on people's homes—gone a bit too far? And do you
suppose that such a movement might have an impact on your
operations, capital investments and, say, your approach to
your customers?
The correct answer: it already has. And it's gaining ground.
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