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Yeah, irresponsible corporation that are regulated out of existence and can't even trim trees for safety without lawsuits and complaints (https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article219315140.html ; https://stopsmartmeters.org/20... ; https://www.actionnewsnow.com/...)

Are you honestly claiming that digital a metre with a little LCD display ... uses more power than a digital metre with an LCD display and an RF transmitter?

I think the OP was comparing ANALOG meters with the new electronic ones. If you look closely, I think the "3W" on that meter means it draws 3W of power (confirmed here) - a decent electronic meter, even one with a transmitter, will consume less power than that. I do decent range ZigBee with 10-20mW of power - the transmitter pulls at most 30mA at 3.3V, so whether or not the meter has a transmitter makes little impact on the total power draw.

sorry but this is not insightful. it's blind and shows a lack of imagination.

they have all that info on you, but its significance is for identify theft. the issue with smart meters is not identity theft.

with detailed power usage and list of common household items and their individual power usage, plus other data mining techniques to figure out what you've paid for (like all that shit people brag about on social media - zomg! my tv is HUGE! come watch the game!!) it can be inferred what items, or what narrow list of items you might be using and when, the frequency of use, etc. this info can then be sold to the same advertisers that stalk you on social media.

the articles linked to in the summary (which you obviously couldn't be bothered to read) explain far more eloquently than i. since you suck so bad at following links, here's the relevant ones from the summary, drilling down to the good stuff. all you have to do is click (oh, and read too. that's important):

http://stopsmartmeters.org/why-stop-smart-meters/

http://stopsmartmeters.org/2010/09/22/interview-with-eff-how-smart-meters-violate-our-right-to-privacy/

sorry but this is not insightful. it's blind and shows a lack of imagination.

they have all that info on you, but its significance is for identify theft. the issue with smart meters is not identity theft.

with detailed power usage and list of common household items and their individual power usage, plus other data mining techniques to figure out what you've paid for (like all that shit people brag about on social media - zomg! my tv is HUGE! come watch the game!!) it can be inferred what items, or what narrow list of items you might be using and when, the frequency of use, etc. this info can then be sold to the same advertisers that stalk you on social media.

the articles linked to in the summary (which you obviously couldn't be bothered to read) explain far more eloquently than i. since you suck so bad at following links, here's the relevant ones from the summary, drilling down to the good stuff. all you have to do is click (oh, and read too. that's important):

http://stopsmartmeters.org/why-stop-smart-meters/

http://stopsmartmeters.org/2010/09/22/interview-with-eff-how-smart-meters-violate-our-right-to-privacy/

Sorry for the impatient tone before, I just assumed you'd overlooked it. No biggie.

http://stopsmartmeters.org/why-stop-smart-meters/ , second paragraph. And it's really not just this one - the internet is peppered with nonsensical opposition to anything and everything that sounds scary to the ignorant.

I sincerely do think your fears are mostly unfounded. The catalyst for a lot of this work is not a profit motive but spectacularly huge government grants. As to the effect of realtime pricing (which is still years down the road for most utilities) I think there will be a more or less normative of the generating capacity: When the thrifty turn off their ACs and unused appliances, the price of electricity also falls in general. This is because an significant amount of total grid capacity is dedicated to a total of like an hour every year of peak demand. If the electric company can price based on the actual cost, which fluctuates very quickly, even ten over minutes, the actual use will to some degree scale to the economy. Meaning, the grid doesn't suffer the additional overhead of having unused capacity, the price people pay is fairer, and electricity doesn't get wasted. The guy using during peak is simply paying something closer to the actual cost, where today it is spread out like a collective guilt.

When so many Californians believe that their new electric meters are going to be giving them cancer ( http://stopsmartmeters.org/ ), this is comes as no surprise at all. Also, crystal healing and homeopathy.

Reading the link, their talk about health issues (cancer is not mentioned at all), appears to be about the power company's overall lack of concern about health issues in power plant operations and such, not that they think the meters themselves could cause health issues. Maybe you should quit basing what you think about Californians from what you see on TMZ (To be fair, the way it's written, it's easy to mistake what they mean).

Here in North Texas, they bill the smart meters as a way that consumers could save money by cutting back during peak rates (variable rates, highest during high demand parts of the day). Of course, if I use my set-back thermostat in the summer to keep the house warmer during the day while I'm at work, then lower the temperature when I'm home in the evening, that kicks in extra usage during those peak hours. Net savings for me? Probably zip. Net to the electric company? Lower overall usage, higher average rate. Epic win--for them.

When so many Californians believe that their new electric meters are going to be giving them cancer ( http://stopsmartmeters.org/ ), this is comes as no surprise at all. Also, crystal healing and homeopathy.