Across the country, utility companies are in the process of installing digital AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) “smart meters”. This will allow for remote meter reading instead of having to send a meter reader out to your home. What appears to be a great advancement in electric meter technology will allow for your home to ultimately be connected to the “smart grid.”
Mission Point Capital Partners, “a private investment firm established by Mark Schwartz, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Soros Fund Management and former Chairman of Goldman Sachs (Asia); Jesse M. Fink, co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com; and Mark J. Cirilli, former Chief Investment Officer of Marshall Street Management,” explains:
The Smart Grid is a collection of energy control and monitoring devices, software, networking and communications infrastructure that are installed in homes, businesses, and throughout the electricity distribution grid. This collective system provides a “nervous system” for the grid and for customers that provides the ability to monitor and control energy consumption comprehensively in real time. Think of it as the Internet for Energy… Smart meters and other smart grid technologies… are designed with this ability, and they can provide the infrastructure that will support the implementation of responsible climate change policy. [emphasis added]
Smart thermostats, smart meters and the smart grid will provide the utility with information and the ability to monitor energy consumption throughout the country. These devices will enable them to regulate your use of electricity and turn it on and off at their discretion. According to SmartGrid.gov, “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with about $4.5 billion to modernize the electric power grid and to implement Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which focused on the Smart Grid.” This site shows the government’s progress in implementing smart grid technology through the country. The money put into this is staggering! The Solyndra scandal is only the tip of the iceberg of this Administration’s green radicalism.
Implementing “responsible climate change policy” will come at a tremendous cost to the energy consumer and benefit those involved in producing and installing these devices as well as those involved in the carbon emissions permit exchange market.
During his presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama said that under his plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates “will necessarily skyrocket.” As utility companies across the country continue to comply with the strong arm demands of the EPA to provide a greater percentage of energy to its customers using renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind, we will see a substantial increase in our electricity bills.
When his cap and trade bill stalled in the Senate, John Kerry (D-MA) issued a statement, “Today we went from ‘wake-up call’ to ‘last call’ on the urgency of Senate action on comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The Obama Administration has again reminded Washington that if Congress won’t legislate, the EPA will regulate.” That is exactly what they are doing.
The video below explains what allowing a smart meter to be installed in your home means to you, the energy consumer.
[youtube 8JNFr_j6kdI nolink]
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