National Grid Wants to Install a “Smart Meter”

Over the past few weeks I have gotten a couple letters from National Grid about my new meter installation. Now usually I would just toss anything from NG in the trash and go on with my day but then they sent an entire pamphlet about a new meter and the updates to it.

Right on the cover of the pamphlet:
“Your new smart meter - A smarter, more powerful way to take control of your energy usage”
A lot of people would take that to mean that YOU are being given that “control”, however I interpret the text on the cover quite differently.

What got my attention at first was that the letter from them had an unusual excited tone to the writing, then I saw the words “Smart Meter” and boy did my conspiracy flag go up. The meters are WiFi enabled apparently (more on that in a sec). In the pamphlet it talks about all the benefits a smart meter would give you, like “more ways to monitor and take control of your energy usage & spending”, “improved service, reliability, and bill accuracy” ect. Kind of seems like they are trying to feed you a bunch of BS and make it sound great like it’s going to save you a bunch of money and help with smart technologies in your home.
Last page of the pamphlet “National Grids commitment to our energy future - Our Plan: NG Net Zero by 2050” it then goes into how they plan to have “net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050”

So just a few issues here…
1) If my awesome futuristic smart meter is WiFi enabled what is stopping someone from hacking my meter and messing with it? Now screw just me, what if there was a massive cyber attack on all smart meters? What could be done through that?
2) What kind of data will the smart meter be transmitting back to NG? They make a point of it being able to link up to your other WiFi enabled devices in your home. The pamphlet says nothing about this except for a BS “we respect our customers privacy” line.
3) How tf does National Grid, who supplies power to the entire northeast of the US (including NYC) plan to have no emissions by 2050, is this even possible without nuclear reactors or something like that? Genuinely asking here.
These smart meters in my opinion, are being put in for down the road if they start doing “carbon tracking” or something along those lines for individuals. Or simply just controlled brown outs/black outs for an area of people based of how much power their households are using. Am I crazy or is this 100% a possibility for them to do with remote control en mass? Right now with the current meters people have to have a National Grid person come out to your property to shut off your power I’m pretty sure. They don’t mention it at all but I am 90%+ certain that these smart meters will allow NG to shut off your power with the click of a button completely remotely, and not just your power but maybe town by town city by city.

I can see it now, “You are coming up on your carbon emissions for the month! Your rate will increase by 50% if you exceed your carbon emission limit, if you can not afford the increased rate we will have to limit your power or shut it off” Oh I forgot to mention if you have a gas meter they are replacing that with a smart meter as well.

Now, you can actually choose to opt out of getting a smart meter installed however “as a result, you’ll receive an ongoing service charge in your monthly bill to cover the cost of on site meter reading: $11.64 for either gas or electric and $17.71 for combined”

Also, if I could afford it I would get solar but the panels and installation are too much up front for me at the moment
Am I being paranoid, should I just get a smart meter installed and say F it, or should I bite the $17.71 per month BS charge for the meter read?

a reply to: Sisavran

If you can possibly help it avoid smart meters like the plague.

They will bump you silly and make you pay for the installation and rent of the meters one way or the other.

Not that the energy companies won't try and bump you silly either way.

One issue you might encounter is that old fashioned meters are not manufactured anymore so its only a matter of time before no one has a choice.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Scrappy is the best there.

Old ones also go on sale online sometimes.

Who's wifi are they going to use? Are they installing area wifi for all meters or are they planning to use yours?

They will be able to "ration" power during peak usage times in the winter and summer.

a reply to: Sisavran

I don't want one, for the same reasons. They can get stuffed and can stick their smart meters.

a reply to: Sisavran

The power company put a smart meter on my house several years ago.
My old meter has water inside so I called them and they put on a digital readout. About six months later you couldn't read the damn thing.

I track my usage with my bill every month so I know what I use but I still like the old style physical gages I could see turning.

a reply to: Oldcarpy2
Lol, I went a step further and #ed the national grid off completely in 2021.
Long story short, I bought solar panels, batteries, inverter, etc, and made my own electricity grid.

This time of year I'm electricity rich, got lights on (or boiling water) all day just to waste the electricity I can't store.
Winter solstice time I'm only powering the essentials, mobile phone, laptop, sound system, lights, hair clippers etc, but I'm about to enter my 4th winter now, and NEVER going back to the national grid.

They've been trying to get me to replace my electricity meter but I tell them no, I don't even want their meter in my house.
I was spending 20-30 quid per week on my prepayment (key/card) meter, but since I stopped, the meter is now showing minus £500+ now, due to the 'daily standing charge' everyone is supposed to pay for the meter!

I phoned them, explained that I don't use their network, I don't want their property (meter) in my home anymore, so please come and remove it...or accept the fact that I am legally NOT required to pay their standing charge...they sent me an email that the meter daily charge cannot be changed " but will not be enforced, due to fact that I don't use the service at all."

I call it a victory 😁 ...but I will NEVER pay that monopoly meter charge , EVER - Take it out of my house, I don't want it...and you can go # yourselves!!!🤣😂🤣

Where I am it's mandatory to have the NG smart meters now. Which I'd be fine with if there was literally anywhere else I could gould go for gas/electric. Found out the hard way that the "competition" is really just subcontractors selling NG services.

a reply to: AdultMaleHumanUK

You old rebel, you!

a reply to: Sisavran

Now, you can actually choose to opt out of getting a smart meter installed however “as a result, you’ll receive an ongoing service charge in your monthly bill to cover the cost of on site meter reading: $11.64 for either gas or electric and $17.71 for combined”

wow ya'll have a choice, we didn't.
they even figured out a way to get around jammers and bad areas for reception.
the greedy bastards.

a reply to: Sisavran

So are they providing the internet service t or the wifi for the meter? Or are they just assuming that you have wifi internet service their meter can connect to and use your internet service? Sounds like a mess and if it was me and they wanted to use my wifi for their meter, I would just disconnect my internet wifi service completely and use my phone Hotspot and go completely back to DVD only no streaming at all.

a reply to: Oldcarpy2
Lol I don't think I'll be able to rebel, if enough people do the same...Dear leader Starmer is sure to impose new regulations for anyone running their own electricity grids, simply because 'they' lose control otherwise.

Right now, my electric setup would probably be illegal if it was connected to the 'main grid' solely because it's unsafe for stupid people, or children.

But until the socialists create new laws for people like me, I'll carry on rebelling, and getting all my electricity from the sun...effectively free, because I paid for all the equipment in the first 18 months of not paying the electricity company!

a reply to: Sisavran

ESG & social credit score incoming?

2nd

a reply to: Sisavran

I just had a meeting yesterday with our water utility provider to renegotiate our commercial contract.

We were discussing the new meter capabilities that they intend to install.

It will be great! They say!

They will be able to tell us when we have an issue like a water leak or a piece of equipment that is using an abnormal amount in real time.

On the flip side, my brain was thinking about how it could be utilized for water rationing and issuing penalties for over usage and such.

The push is on to have gas and electric meters here that have the same capabilities installed in short order.

As with a lot of technology it’s sold on it’s positive features and used for more negative ones.

Check the fine print.

These smart meters are used to cut power to your house if they feel like it.

Was searching for the old news articles. Google has delisted all the old news stories and only allows articles praising smart meters.

How long are you planning on living where you are?

a reply to: Sisavran

a reply to: Sisavran

This is another wasted, lost battle of freedom. The US states have a strong interest if not control on the energy issue in most if not all their respective states. Energy is one of the persistent buzzwords of the day. The states will pass the necessary laws and regulations to make the total conversion happen. The basic argument will be that under the old system, they used massed numbers from areas to control the systems. Under the new devices, they can throttle the exact user automatically if desired.

a reply to: Sisavran

In Florida, FPL changed all the meters to smart meters. They use a "secure wireless network". I will say that this makes things a bit easier for FPL to know when there is an outage. Once the meters go offline they know about it.

I suggest that if you really don't want one. Ask if they have an opt out form. Check your state laws to see what your options are. Make a fence around your meter and put two pitt bulls in there. It won't get changed. lol

www.fpl.com...

Electric meters using older mechanical technology had parts that recorded your energy use. Smart meters are digital devices that measure electricity use via a secure wireless network. In combination with other "smart grid" technologies, smart meters make it possible to give you more information about your electricity use and improve our service to you.

With a smart meter, you no longer have to wait for your monthly bill to see how much energy you used and how much it cost. Instead, you can go online or call us to see how much electricity you're consuming by the hour, day and month. Armed with this information, you can make more informed energy choices throughout the month, and identify ways to save money, if you choose. You're in control.

Smart meters also make it possible for FPL and other companies to offer new products and services in the future – such as home energy controllers, smart appliances and mobile apps.

a reply to: Sisavran

WiFi enabled? REQUIRE A PASSWORD ON YOUR ROUTER..

and in case nobody noticed, we face a deficit
in power generation at near peaak capacity,,, (around late 1990)
right when everyone started to use power hungry COMPUTERS

so,... they forced everyone to switch to compact flourescent bulbs...
and INSTANTLY OVERNIGHT my electric bill was cut in HALF.

now we are back to maximum capacity at a time when....
we got electric cars need charging, and 5g towers and
they want the internet of things to invade our homes..

and once more, rather than expand our fleet of 102 nuclear reactors
costing power companies BILLIONS,

they now expect the citizens to pay for solar panels
and pay the electric companies for them with 2nd mortgages
and a lien on your house or lease from the power companies..

and sell the excess back to them,, while still being hooked
up to THEIR power grid now enabled with wifi, to shut off
your electric anytime they choose to punish you for
your media posts they dont like... or

cutting your electric off during the hotttest days while still
pilfering your electric to cool office buildings

the rich all have them already, bought and paid for
BY YOU THE TAXPAYER, who cannot afford your own panels
while you pay EXTRA to buy up THEIR excess electric

make EVERYTHING electric so with the flick of just 1 switch
they can shut down the whole country,, just parts,
or just those who are registered republicans,, didnt pay alimony...

cannot just fill up a few jugs of electric to store for the summer
..cannot carry an extra car battery with you camping,