Smartmeter: Anyone knows how to get detailed info on them?

Even with mechanical meters they can get away with 'estimating' your usage!

Back in Irvine, it apparently was the practice to actually read the meters only every other month. We could tell, because every other month we would get hit by large 'overuse' charges, as they 'estimated' that we would have used a lot more electricity, and gone into the high tariff rates, and then the next month we would be barely out of baseline. A couple of times I got the bill, looked at what they said the meter read, went out and LOOKED at my meter, and realized that I wasn't there yet a week after they had supposedly read the meter.

And no, they never put on there 'ESTIMATED'...

Charlie

That would warrant a report to the PUC, if needed also some media exposure.

A work visa is not a green card, usually. Same in the US. If you get a national interest waiver it's smooth sail (after a wait of several year, that is ...), else you'll probably have to show the dough.

Not so. Read up on the tax code. There is an exemption of somewhere around $80k. Beyond that the IRS wants its cut, unless you renounce your citizenship. Oh, and you would no longer be accountable to a president but to her majesty :-)

The biggest prowlers of that sort out here are deer. And you can't mess with the buck. One guy did and the buck didn't let him win. Then the occasional mountain lion or bear.

SRP bills say "Estimated" if such were done. But it's only allowed for such extenuating circumstances, as in your dog ran the meter reader out of your yard :-)

New builds here require all metering to be on the street-side of your fencing.

Old houses, with alleys, the meter reader would use binoculars :-)

Some years ago I did have a problem with a lazy meter reader. So I took to "reading" it myself with a camera. Problem stopped promptly.

With electronic reading (as I now have) there's no way for the "reader" to fudge. ...Jim Thompson

Not if it's earned outside the country AND you reside outside the country.

...Jim Thompson

I believe you are wrong about that but it looks like they have the exemption amount now inflation-indexed:

Also, quote: "Self-employed taxpayers have additional tax considerations. The foreign earned income exclusion will reduce your regular tax liability, but not your self employment tax."

I suggest to consult a good tax profesional who knows foreign stuff before making any decisions.

"Your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you reside"

The US is one of very few countries that does this.

Expatriation is possible, but not a pleasant thought at all:

Basically, if you're well established, they've pretty much 'got' you legally.

By "utility customer", you mean "your electricity provider" (?). Yes, they can configure the "parameters" that are displayed as well as how long the display pauses on each. It's a crappy interface but "flexible". For the homeowner, you just learn *which* parameter is of interest and ignore the rest.

Does your display actually have icons/legends saying "current kW", "voltage", etc.?

"Display test" -- to prove all the segments "light". Depending on their choice of "fonts" (blech), it can help ensure a '7' doesn't appear as a '1', '9' (without a tail) as a '4', etc.

Yes. One selling point is to support co-generation for "consumers" like that.

Note it will be 900MHz spread spectrum so not "WiFi".

I used to work for the power company. And that's exactly how they think.

Due to excessive customer complaints to the UTC about power co employees pissy attitudes, our management decided to have everyone take a course on how to deal effectively with customers. Problem is, it was just designed to calm people down, defuse the current situation and get them out of the office. I pointed out (to no avail) that these people were still customers and, even though we'd soothed them for the moment, the next time they looked at their bill, they'd be even more pissed once the realized that they just keep getting the bum's rush.

At the end of the course, when everyone was presented with their 'diploma' by the instructor, on my way back to my seat, I announced to my classmates, "Great! I've got my black belt in dealing with customers!"

In every service area that I've lived, the bill announced "estimate" if it indeed was an estimate. And, in every such area, the utility couldn't *regularly* resort to estimates as it *is* unfair to the consumer (since most utilities don't have flat tariffs)

Note there is a subtle but hugely significant difference, here:

If a meter reader couldn't read your (mechanical) meter (because he was lazy, work stoppage, bad weather, etc.) the utility *could* estimate and then, in the *next* billing cycle, an actual reading would come up with a correction. Granted, you couldn't tell how far off the estimate was FOR SURE, *but*, at the end of that billing period, you once again have a record of the *total* power consumed in the two periods.

This isn't true of an estimate brought about by a meter

They can be (ahem) "acquired". I was going to change the ratio on one (to make it more interesting) and build a *lamp* out of it but was vetoed ("You *don't* think you're going to put that UGLY thing in the living room, do you??")

At GenRad, I was required to take a course in sexual harassment. When I opined that I'd never been sexually harassed and would like to experience some... the instructor was not amused, particularly when, at each new type, I'd mutter plaintively, "Please!" :-) ...Jim Thompson

I think they make decent-looking lamps -- I've seen them offered commercially as such:

Yes, but I was using the solid state meter prototype ("patent proof") so it wasn't nearly as "pretty" :>

(gears replaced by semiconductors)

I just figured it was another way to bilk an extra dollar or two from the customer. Estimate high, based on general usage and not actual usage, and you get to hit the customer with higher rate levels. The next month, when you actually read the meter, you are 'crediting' him with low rate levels, so you make out like a bandit.

I just figured they had decided to reduce costs by only reading every other month. The meter was on the street side of my house, literally

Charlie

Long before such training became stylish, I worked at a construction company along with a lady who was the local chairperson of a group called "Women In Construction".

One of our draftsman was a talented cartoonist. He took the WIC logo and deleted the silhouetted female figure (holding a hammer and T-square) from the center. He drew in the nymphet character from the joke page of Playboy with a giant pencil and pencil sharpener.

Our (female) co-worker thought it was hilarious.

Yup. The "fair" way is to average usage over N (2 in this case) billing periods and assume the user used exactly half the power in each. Otherwise, you charge the user more than he *might* have used (hey, *you* are the guys who elected to estimate the meter reading so *I* should get the benefit of the doubt)

Of course! :> But, I think your PUC will find that practice frowned upon -- for the reasons we've discussed. Why not read it once a *year*? Estimate ALL of the consumption during the summer months (highest rates, typically) and bilk the user accordingly?! :<

Yup.

Plenty of other evil stuff can be done with smart meters. For instance, anyone with access to the meter can figure out when the house isn't occupied. Remember, these buggers read in real time.

Of course now the feds can't dress up like meter readers and plant bugs... ;-)

We owe a lot to those Defcon guys. Seriously. They debunk so much bull from manufacturers. You may recall they picked the Medeco type locks used in high security areas like the White House. They designed RFID readers that went way beyond what the manufacturers claimed could be sensed. [If I were worthy, I'd attend. ;-)]

oes

I've seen what looks like brand new meters at different electronics flea markets. I just never really knew what I would do with one. Not expensive, maybe $25.

I do have a Killawatt. Damn handy toy.