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Get Smart: Team Obama’s $3 Billion Smart Grid Push

    • Woo hoo! Centerpoint got $200 million for their smart meters in Houston. Maybe I'll see those $3.24 monthly charges come off my electric bills sooner.

    • This is exactly the investment we need to maximize the use of the existing grid. There's a lot of renewable energy near existing distribution lines and these upgrades and a smarter grid mean a lot of generation can tap in close to home.

    • This is another stopgap like efficiency and conservation. Sure there are some savings to be made, but after you squeeze those out and usage is still going up, then you come right back to the same hard decisions we face now: Whose house do you put the power plant next to, and whose farm do you run the power lines across.

      These are going to come down to property rights issues that we are doing nothing to resolve today, and will still face tomorrow, when they are even more expensive to fix. And after we have squeezed out all the slack in the system, we increase the risk of major failure.

      If you get a wind generator or a cell tower sited on your property you will get handsome rental. But if you get stuck with a power line, then you are screwed royally.

      Where is the parity?

      Urban areas are going to be supported by huge amounts of infrastructure and environmental sevices located in rural areas, and it is a real question as to whether the costs and benefits will be shared fairly.

    • They can also selectively cut off your power or they can and will develop a "PEAK" usage plan which will cost more for certain hours. Smart meters are "spy and control" machines.

    • Report from California- It works perfectly as planned!!! We can no longer afford to use our A/C at all because the bills are so high.

    • 3:01 pm - Do everyone (or at least me) a favor: stick your finger in electrical outlet. No, make that 2 fingers.

    • Hydra is correct--a one stop measure with emphasis on stop! We need to rebuild our transmission system instead of putting bandaids in place. Composite core cable exists today and is belng deployed in China more than frequently than here. The graphite core cable allows the replacement of current aluminum/steel cable without rebuilding the transmission towers or adding new right of ways. The new cable can DOUBLE the capability of the existing transmission circuits with no environmental or property impacts. Unfortunately our current administration is more bent on reducing our consumption than finding ways to increase the capabilities of our existing transmission system. Ultimately the chickens will come home to roost and we will be forced to do it but only after the hard lessons of brown outs and even black outs. I don't care how many windmills you install, you have to get the power to the load and our current system is maxed out in critical regions of the country. Smart meters are like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.

    • Theoretically, they can turn off your AC for ten minutes and then turn your back on and turn off the neighbor, and this is supposed to reduce the need for peaking power. therefore they will reduce the need for peak power, and at the same time give the power companies the ability to charge more for what they now need less of.

      This is great for the power company, because, on average my AC and my neighbors, will still use the same amount of power to keep the house cool, and since this is during peak times, we still get charged more for it, even though the power company is saving. The end result is just as George wrote: you can't afford to use the power.

      And that idea only works for variable loads, if you have some requirement you cannot avoid, like running fans in the henhouse, then you are screwed.

      It seems thatIf I and all my neighbors still get the same amount of cooling, we will use the same amount of power and create the same amount of greenhouse gas. On the other hand there must be some savings in emissions if you really do not have to run that additional peaking plant. Maybe someone can explain this to me. Is it a matter of how much reserve power you need on line to prevent a sudden voltage drop?

      With smart metering is a baseload plant running at 95% equal to an uncontrolled demand wich then needs a baseload plant carrying 80% of the load plus a peaking plant carrying 20%?

      I keep coming around to the question that if it is true as claimed that I won;t notice any diferece in my cooling, then I must on averae be using the same power. So where do MY savings come from in this after I have to pay for th esmart meter?

      Am I supposed to beleive that by not firing up that peaking plant the utility will save so much money that the rate commision will force them to lower my rates?

      Somehow that stretches my credulity.

    • Another government scam to finance their "green" friends while taking advantage of the producing class (you know, those ignorant workers in the hinter land who produce the energy so that it can be transmitted to the "green" states so that the "green" people" living in their ":green" houses can complain if SOMEONE ELSE isn't producing what they want, when they want it, at the price THEY say is fair)!!!! How many square miles of solar panels does Vermont, New York, or Massachusetts have???? How many thousand energy generating wind mills does New Hamshire, Florida, or California have????? What happens when the "smart grid" craters??? We ALL lose power!!!!

    • Corvette Magazine has my 08 Corvette in the March issue. I can tune any Ford, Chevy or Chrysler gas v8 to get an extra 6 mpg and an extra 100 to 150+ hp. This will allow us to keep our bigger safer cars , trucks and suv's and buy in the USA . All good things start out with good ideas . It does have to be shared with everybody who cares . If more people created solutions that work we could all profit instead of crying about spilt milk. I can add 6mpg hwy & 10mpg intown with an extra 150hp to V8 gas Ford, Chevy & Chrysler vehicles with factory warranty continuance. Large Family Highway Hybrids with Towing capability. Reduce gas consumption from 30% to 50%.I have 3 test vehicles that I give test drives by appointment.2007 Corvette 34mpg hwy-43mpg around town 750hp-2008 Corvette 32mpg hwy 40 around town 775hp-2009 Silverado 28mpg hwy-32 around town -18mpg towing 6,000 lbs -500hp-550tq. Who will tell the public about a solution that works & will save 30 to 50 % gas consumption . That will also support our auto industry so we can have safer vehicles made here in the US. This is something that can be done now that will add green to many of those vehicles that are underpowered and that waist gas.Gene



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