I used to think saving money was the reason you tried to keep utility usage low, but now that there are happy faces you can get, I’m going to be trying extra hard. If my dad had said, turn the lights off when you leave the room, we’re losing happy faces, I might have had a different childhood.
Not good enough Steve, all those people on the Marshall Islands will still drown.
Or as the Guardians latest says “Rising seas wash Japanese war dead from Marshall Islands graves. Officials blame climate change as 26 skeletons are found on Santo Island after high tides batter Pacific archipelago.”
“High tides batter” nice phrase, eh?
Steven,
You need to save energy when the Arctic sea ice extent is low.
Don’t worry about it when the Arctic sea ice extent is high.
“Experts” unfortunately can’t forecast when that will happen. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140327123648.htm
This isn’t funny. I’ve gotten two of those now. The first one I thought was just a once a year status….but then I got one the next month too. Notice that it’s comparing you to your neighbors.
Looks like an organized effort to start guilting everyone for their consumption…. every month? maybe.
“On the advice of the nudge unit, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tested some new styles of reminder letter, which included a startling statistic: that most people living in the recipient’s town or postcode had already paid. Rates of repayment in the test groups rose by around 15%.”
Well, I’ve murdered & raped fewer people than the average person. Why doesn’t my local police department send out congratulatory fliers? I also have more limbs than the average person (I believe the average is around 3.8), so I’m expecting some sort of feel-goody note for that too.
They are on their way to ‘reward’ you now. Things will go easier if, when they arrive, they find you spread eagle on the front lawn or parking lot (if an apartment dweller).
How do you do every time I upgrade my furnace/air conditioner to a new more efficient unit my electrical bill goes up. Some how I suspect the efficiency rating are being adjusted since they do not want to admit the environment friendly coolant is not as efficient as the older less environment friendly, as the rate we are going the ice man may have to make a resurgence since our refrigerators are getting close to not refrigerating,
I bet Steven has a heat exchanger that pipes deep ocean water into his house to warm his place up and save electricity. And it’s infinite energy source since 4 Hiroshima bombs are landing down there every second, according to alarmists.
it’s all a huge scam by the utilities. By propaganda and force (“smart” meters) they get you to use less. Then they go to the utilities commission and demand a higher rate because they’re supposed to get a guaranteed return on investment/infrastructure.
In other words they get paid more to deliver less while avoiding building additional supply. Nice for them.
With all due respect, my meter was over 30 years old, still working BUT one could barely read the dials owing to the badly fogged plastic. While mechanical meters are still being made by a couple vendors, there is an extra cost associated with opting for one of those.
The cost of meter reading should be a savings, and in this day and age one could argue it was about time an ‘upgrade’ to remote reading meters for several reasons, including the inconvenience of having a stranger roaming the back alley once a month to ‘read’ an old style meter.
stpaulchuck June 7, 2014 at 2:11 pm it’s all a … . By propaganda and force (“smart” meters) they get you to use less.
Specifically, how so via the smart meters?
Generally, the additional cost for use of electricity is a disincentive.
You do (or should!) know, also, that at least in my state to qualify for a _lower_ rate from some of the retailers you must use ABOVE a certain amount of electricity each month.
“Paranoid old white guy” ramblings and worry …. now that I have that out of the way, let me pass on a little advice IF you really are paranoid to that degree.
1) Fashion a cover made of aluminum foil or flashing or copper foil that will fit flush over the plastic housing of the meter. Make sure ALL seems are soldered, and no gaps exist in this fabricated cover. This cover should fit flush up against the meter base.
2) Place the fabricated cover from step 1) over the meter EXCEPTING for those days when the meter shows to have been ‘read’ on your electric bill for billing purposes.
Be advised, however, that you *will* receive inquiry, perhaps by an actual visit from the electricity distribution company, (or, the company responsible for physical infrastructure up to the house including the meter) or by phone as to whether your property still exists or may have been removed from the face of the earth by storm ot act of man.
These meters are quite chatty. Using both a spectrum analyzer and a broadband diode detector (like an old HP423A or B diode detector) driven by a Log Periodic antenna five or six feet away one can see transmission ‘bursts’ every few seconds to tens of seconds in the unlicensed spectrum in ISM band beginning around at 900 MHz. I used to have a video on Youtube but took it down a few months ago …
The air-interface protocol is unpublished, otherwise I would supply a link to it.
PS. An alternative to the ‘cover’ above is to continuously operate a Part 15 (I think it is) compliant transmitter in the vicinity of the meter excepting for the days when the meter is expected to be read for billing purposes.
As to ‘detecting’ grow operations, don’t you think the feds (or whomever) could have read the old-style meter with binoculars over a two-day period and determined your average power consumption and compared that with your neighbors? Really, this is not even rocket science …
PPS Please do your own due diligence and read Part 15 as it applies to 900 MHz band emissions before proceeding with the second option detailed in this post.
Here’s another green vs skeptic energy usage irony: Remember when Senator Wirth shut off the A/C and opened up the windows in the hearing room the night before James Hansen made his big splash in ’88? (actually that was just stagecraft, but bear with me on this one). Well, being fortunate enough to exchange emails with Dr David South who testified this past Tuesday at the Senate EPW hearing ( http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=9d9631ee-c20c-9c2d-a61c-d727ca5aa214 ), he relayed the following to me:
“Let me share this tidbit with you….. do you know what temperature they had the thermostat set for???? 57 F!!!!”
Straight from the horse’s mouth: ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas operates the electric grid and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state.
….Rolling outages are systematic, temporary interruptions of electrical service.
They are the last step in a progressive series of emergency procedures that ERCOT follows when it detects that there is a shortage of power generation within the Texas electric grid. ERCOT will direct electric transmission and distribution utilities, such as CenterPoint Energy, to begin controlled, rolling outages to bring the supply and demand for electricity back into balance.They generally last 15-45 minutes before being rotated to a different neighborhood to spread the effect of the outage among consumers, which would be the case whether outages are coordinated at the circuit level or individual meter level. Without this safety valve, power generating units could overload and begin shutting down and risk causing a domino effect of a statewide, lengthy outage. With smart meters, CenterPoint Energy is proposing to add a process prior to shutting down whole circuits to conduct a mass turn off of individual meters with 200 amps or less (i.e. residential and small commercial consumers) for 15 or 30 minutes, rotating consumers impacted during that outage as well as possible future outages.
There are several benefits to consumers of this proposed process. By isolating non-critical service accounts (“critical” accounts include hospitals, police stations, water treatment facilities etc.) and spreading “load shed” to a wider distribution, critical accounts that happen to share the same circuit with non-critical accounts will be less affected in the event of an emergency. Curtailment of other important public safety devices and services such as traffic signals, police and fire stations, and water pumps and sewer lifts may also be avoided.
Don’t want smart meter? Power shut off
The rollout of smart electric meters across the country has run into a few snags: one woman doesn’t want one, and ended up in the dark as a result.
You might not think that would be an issue. But it is, because Duke Energy is now beginning to disconnect any homeowner who refuses a new electric meter.
Other electric companies are not pulling the plug…yet…..
A smart grid is needed at the distribution level to manage voltage levels, reactive power, potential reverse power flows, and power conditioning, all critical to running grid-connected DG systems, particularly with high penetrations of solar and wind power and PHEVs…. Designing and retrofitting household appliances, such as washers, dryers, and water heaters with technology to communicate and respond to market signals and user preferences via home automation technology will be a significant challenge. Substantial investment will be required….
These controls and tools could reduce the occurrence of outages and power disturbances attributed to grid overload. They could also reduce planned rolling brownouts and blackouts like those implemented during the energy crisis in California in 2000.
_Jim is well aware of this since I posted the exact same articles at WUWT a couple years ago.
I used to think saving money was the reason you tried to keep utility usage low, but now that there are happy faces you can get, I’m going to be trying extra hard. If my dad had said, turn the lights off when you leave the room, we’re losing happy faces, I might have had a different childhood.
I do my part to honor Gaia by dutifully filing these notices into the recycling bin.
Not good enough Steve, all those people on the Marshall Islands will still drown.
Or as the Guardians latest says “Rising seas wash Japanese war dead from Marshall Islands graves. Officials blame climate change as 26 skeletons are found on Santo Island after high tides batter Pacific archipelago.”
“High tides batter” nice phrase, eh?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/06/rising-seas-wash-japanese-war-dead-marshall-islands-graves
Steven,
You need to save energy when the Arctic sea ice extent is low.
Don’t worry about it when the Arctic sea ice extent is high.
“Experts” unfortunately can’t forecast when that will happen.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140327123648.htm
This isn’t funny. I’ve gotten two of those now. The first one I thought was just a once a year status….but then I got one the next month too. Notice that it’s comparing you to your neighbors.
Looks like an organized effort to start guilting everyone for their consumption…. every month? maybe.
It’s the nudge theory at work. Basically trying to change behavior without people being told to change the behavior.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/02/nudge-unit-has-it-worked
“On the advice of the nudge unit, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tested some new styles of reminder letter, which included a startling statistic: that most people living in the recipient’s town or postcode had already paid. Rates of repayment in the test groups rose by around 15%.”
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/12/government-nudge-theory-budge
http://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2012/02_03_2012/story2.htm
Well, I’ve murdered & raped fewer people than the average person. Why doesn’t my local police department send out congratulatory fliers? I also have more limbs than the average person (I believe the average is around 3.8), so I’m expecting some sort of feel-goody note for that too.
They are on their way to ‘reward’ you now. Things will go easier if, when they arrive, they find you spread eagle on the front lawn or parking lot (if an apartment dweller).
How do you do every time I upgrade my furnace/air conditioner to a new more efficient unit my electrical bill goes up. Some how I suspect the efficiency rating are being adjusted since they do not want to admit the environment friendly coolant is not as efficient as the older less environment friendly, as the rate we are going the ice man may have to make a resurgence since our refrigerators are getting close to not refrigerating,
I meant to say “How do you do it,”
A company giving you recognition for using less of their product. Western Civilization is dead.
159 kWh in 17 days. You were somewhere else?
No, I was in the apartment the whole time. I use very energy efficient lights, and keep them off unless I am using them.
he turns off his heat and lets the adjacent units heat his unit
I bet Steven has a heat exchanger that pipes deep ocean water into his house to warm his place up and save electricity. And it’s infinite energy source since 4 Hiroshima bombs are landing down there every second, according to alarmists.
it’s all a huge scam by the utilities. By propaganda and force (“smart” meters) they get you to use less. Then they go to the utilities commission and demand a higher rate because they’re supposed to get a guaranteed return on investment/infrastructure.
In other words they get paid more to deliver less while avoiding building additional supply. Nice for them.
With all due respect, my meter was over 30 years old, still working BUT one could barely read the dials owing to the badly fogged plastic. While mechanical meters are still being made by a couple vendors, there is an extra cost associated with opting for one of those.
The cost of meter reading should be a savings, and in this day and age one could argue it was about time an ‘upgrade’ to remote reading meters for several reasons, including the inconvenience of having a stranger roaming the back alley once a month to ‘read’ an old style meter.
Companies have incentives to play along with fascism.
stpaulchuck June 7, 2014 at 2:11 pm
it’s all a … . By propaganda and force (“smart” meters) they get you to use less.
Specifically, how so via the smart meters?
Generally, the additional cost for use of electricity is a disincentive.
You do (or should!) know, also, that at least in my state to qualify for a _lower_ rate from some of the retailers you must use ABOVE a certain amount of electricity each month.
.
“Paranoid old white guy” ramblings and worry …. now that I have that out of the way, let me pass on a little advice IF you really are paranoid to that degree.
1) Fashion a cover made of aluminum foil or flashing or copper foil that will fit flush over the plastic housing of the meter. Make sure ALL seems are soldered, and no gaps exist in this fabricated cover. This cover should fit flush up against the meter base.
2) Place the fabricated cover from step 1) over the meter EXCEPTING for those days when the meter shows to have been ‘read’ on your electric bill for billing purposes.
Be advised, however, that you *will* receive inquiry, perhaps by an actual visit from the electricity distribution company, (or, the company responsible for physical infrastructure up to the house including the meter) or by phone as to whether your property still exists or may have been removed from the face of the earth by storm ot act of man.
These meters are quite chatty. Using both a spectrum analyzer and a broadband diode detector (like an old HP423A or B diode detector) driven by a Log Periodic antenna five or six feet away one can see transmission ‘bursts’ every few seconds to tens of seconds in the unlicensed spectrum in ISM band beginning around at 900 MHz. I used to have a video on Youtube but took it down a few months ago …
The air-interface protocol is unpublished, otherwise I would supply a link to it.
PS. An alternative to the ‘cover’ above is to continuously operate a Part 15 (I think it is) compliant transmitter in the vicinity of the meter excepting for the days when the meter is expected to be read for billing purposes.
As to ‘detecting’ grow operations, don’t you think the feds (or whomever) could have read the old-style meter with binoculars over a two-day period and determined your average power consumption and compared that with your neighbors? Really, this is not even rocket science …
PPS Please do your own due diligence and read Part 15 as it applies to 900 MHz band emissions before proceeding with the second option detailed in this post.
.
errata: change to Make sure ALL seams are soldered
Here’s another green vs skeptic energy usage irony: Remember when Senator Wirth shut off the A/C and opened up the windows in the hearing room the night before James Hansen made his big splash in ’88? (actually that was just stagecraft, but bear with me on this one). Well, being fortunate enough to exchange emails with Dr David South who testified this past Tuesday at the Senate EPW hearing ( http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=9d9631ee-c20c-9c2d-a61c-d727ca5aa214 ), he relayed the following to me:
“Let me share this tidbit with you….. do you know what temperature they had the thermostat set for???? 57 F!!!!”
Month of May: 1130 KWH–$140. Four adults, lots of showers and laundry and two heat pumps not on too much. Let’s not talk about Feb.
Its seems Steve lives next to Al Gore, so of course he uses less hot air.
On Smart Meters:
Straight from the horse’s mouth: ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas operates the electric grid and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state.
_Jim is well aware of this since I posted the exact same articles at WUWT a couple years ago.