Smart Meter

[microage97]

Rates are going to skyrocket as they have in Saipan. People are get some serious sticker shock.....

[kalakoa]

Just another "Hawaii Surcharge". People are free to relocate as they see fit.

[terracore]

I got this email from HELCO a few days ago:

Mahalo for being among the first Hawaiian Electric customers to help transform our electric grid into a dynamic platform enabling more renewables, greater reliability and resilience. This update is to inform you of your upcoming meter replacement, where we’ll exchange the existing meter at your home with an advanced meter.

What to expect during your meter replacement

• The technician will knock on your door or call you on the day of your meter replacement before beginning work.
• Meter replacements will be performed Monday, January 9 through Tuesday, January 17 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
• You do not have to be present, but we ask for the safety of our personnel that you provide clear access to the meter by securing any loose pets.
• The entire meter replacement will take less than 15 minutes, which includes a brief 1–3 minute interruption of electrical service.
Visit our site for more information on advanced meters and how you can access the My Energy Use portal.

The guy came today (the 10th). The installation took about 5 minutes and the power was out for less than a minute. They didn't call ahead but our dogs announced his arrival and we put them inside so he could work safely.

[garymatt]

I don't remember the date but I think ours was about 2 months ago. This was at least several weeks after getting emails that it was going to happen any day now.

[kander]

Its funny how they make this sound like you will be benefiting from one of these meters. Where they can, shut your power off remotely, charge you extra for peak time use or whatever other excuse to charge you extra.
This is how people ended up with 3,000 dollar power bills in Texas during that one rare outage a couple years ago. Smart meters were able to report every precious watt people used and charge them according to whatever exchange rates at that instant were. If helco bases their rates on the variable price of diesel, could get spicy.
If offers the utilities endless options for profit and control.
Oh well, times they are a changing.

[terracore]

In the smart meter FAQ one of the questions was, is the use of the smart meter mandatory? (Can you refuse it).

The answer said it was not mandatory, and there was "currently" no penalty for refusing to switch, although that could change in the future.

[leilanidude]

Its funny how they make this sound like you will be benefiting from one of these meters. Where they can, shut your power off remotely, charge you extra for peak time use or whatever other excuse to charge you extra.
This is how people ended up with 3,000 dollar power bills in Texas during that one rare outage a couple years ago. Smart meters were able to report every precious watt people used and charge them according to whatever exchange rates at that instant were. If helco bases their rates on the variable price of diesel, could get spicy.
If offers the utilities endless options for profit and control.
Oh well, times they are a changing.

Not quite true on the Texas thing. What really happened is that people signed up for a plan thru a company that bought wholesale at current market prices and marked that up by fractions of a penny per KWH. The catch is that you had to have the account linked to a debit card that pulled the charge for the electricity out, daily. The plan was very attractive in the past to poor folks because of the super cheap rates because there had not been any sort of supply issue. In fact, there were times when their rate was almost zero when it was windy and sunny in West Texas where the wind turbines were producing so much power that the wholesale rate became negative.

When the supply issue came to a head, wholesale pricing sky rocketed and these folks were stuck paying for the cost because they had agreed to it.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

If helco bases their rates on the variable price of diesel, could get spicy. 

HELCO has based their rates on the cost of fuel oil forever.  We’ve seen the ups and downs.
If only Big Island had a local source of generating electricity, like geothermal, or wind, or solar.

[randomq]

Just opt out, people. It doesn't take that much cash or discipline to go off-grid. Or go primarily solar and keep your grid tie just for occasional charging.

[kalianna]

Not everyone has "that much cash..." I don't know how discipline plays into it.