New York Assembly Committee Passes Bill Allowing People to Opt Out of Smart Meters

May 29, 2016 — ALBANY, N.Y. (May 27, 2016) – A second New York Assembly committee has passed a bill that would allow customers to opt out of installing “smart meter” technology on their homes and businesses. Final passage of this bill would allow New Yorker’s to protect their own privacy, and it would take a step toward blocking a federal program in effect.

Smart meters cost $7K each???

$7,000 is too much for an electric meter BE HEARD!   National Grid’s run-amok Worcester area WiMax ‘smart’ meter pilot is $29M (65%) over-budget at $7,000 per meter, & does not represent Massachusetts demographics. The many egregious ahhem,  misrepresentations in National Grid’s FEB 2016 ‘Interim Report‘ need to come to light before we all end up with $7,000 ‘smart’ electric meters.   The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office will listen to ratepayer concerns on  June 13th in Worcester (see details below) (CLICK HERE FOR INTERIM REPORT & 1-PAGE   SUMMARY WITH LINKS  OF AHHEM, MISREPRESENTATIONS)   FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS! ————————— INTERIM REPORT ►CLAIM: 98% retention & 72% satisfied but the 4,000 – 6,000  subjects who quit were conveniently not counted ►CLAIM: In a ‘portion of Worcester’   NOT: Groton, Auburn, etc. ►CLAIM: ‘smart’ meters installed April ’14  NOT: Installed in ’12 & ’13 ►CLAIM: Worcester Library usage  Overstated Worcester’s Main Branch usage by 71% ► CLAIM: Not enough lower income subjects available though half of Worcester meets National Grid’s threshold ►CLAIM: 0.2% electricity “saved” on average ►CLAIM: $1,250,0000 “saved” –  total (see chart below) IRRECONCILABLE: – 0.2% of the average annual MA home’s bill is less than $3 – Less than 11,000 subjects remain in the pilot – $3 x 11,000 = $33,000   DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DOCS  $29,000,000 (65%) over budget (and counting)  Sustainability Hub: $700k / 1,400% over budget   Cost:  $7,000 per meter and rising  Vegetation decimated for ‘smart’ networks  National Grid bought ratepayer private financial & lifestyle data without their permission ————————— v National Grid and MA Department of Public Utilities rely on  career tobacco testifier and outdated health data. v Adverse symptoms ignored or scorned: headaches, sleep  issues, ear ringing, neurological, etc.     Questions/Comments/Suggestions: HaltMAsmartMeters@gmail.com   Page 11 of Interim Report Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Public Listening Session Monday, June 13, 2016: 6 – 8 pm The Office of Attorney General Maura Healey  will host an Energy & Environment Listening Session devoted to hearing directly from YOU about issues important to Greater Worcester & the Commonwealth. Broad Meadow Brook Center & Sanctuary 414 Massasoit Road, Worcester Open to the public: RSVP Questions for the AG:  AGOcommunityEngagement@state.ma.us

 

 

Nat Grid rates increased to cover pilot shortfall!

Guess who is paying for the cost overrun…. yup.. us!

The Company’s filing is designed to recover $14,791,900 in smart grid pilot program costs both incurred in 2015 and under-recovered from prior years. To recover these costs, the Company seeks approval of the following for effect May 1, 2016: (1) revised Smart Grid Customer Cost Adjustment Factors (“SGCCAF”) pursuant to its basic service tariff, M.D.P.U. No. 1250; and (2) revised Smart Grid Distribution Adjustment Factors (“SGDAF”) pursuant to its smart grid adjustment provision tariff, M.D.P.U. No. 1238. The Department docketed this matter as D.P.U. 16-28.

In this proceeding, the Company proposes to recover $8,954,786 in customer-facing pilot program costs from its basic service customers, which includes $6,781,437 in customer-facing pilot program costs incurred in 2015 plus an under-recovery of $2,173,348 in customer-facing costs from prior years (Exh. MHK-3, at 1). 2 To collect these customer-facing costs, the Company proposes following revised SGCCAFs for effect May 1, 2016: Table 1: Proposed SGCCAFs 3 Customer Group SGCCAFs ($/kWh) Residential/Streetlight $0.00120 Commercial $0.00118 Industrial $0.00155 In addition, the Company proposes to recover $5,837,114 in grid-facing pilot program costs from its distribution customers, which includes $5,744,486 in grid-facing pilot program