Smart meters

what's the debacle?

And as I last heard, there isn't an opt out at this point. Well other than making your own power.

 
Pedro said:
what's the debacle?

And as I last heard, there isn't an opt out at this point. Well other than making your own power.
Click to expand...

Yea I opted out too. Now I have a bike in the basement that I pedal to light the lightbulb I use to read.

I'm with you Pedro, who really cares? I don't even really see a privacy concern here. If someone wanted to know how much power I was using they could just walk up to my house and read my meter anyway. Portland Water District can drive by and scan my water meter, why shouldn't CMP be able to? I think the poor guy that has to walk through the snow to get to my natural gas meter is getting the shaft! Maybe in the long run CMP will have to carry less labor hours and pass the savings on to us (unlikely, but a nice thought).

 
I believe I read that it has been proven that hackers, given enough know how, can trick the system in to believing that your house is drawing more energy than it is. The problems there are greater than you just getting a high electric bill. The same data can be used to automatically add load to spinning reserves, bringing them online, overloading the transformers that don't really have any place to send the power and knocking out an entire electrical region. Many years ago, an stuck breaker at a substation in Canada cause the entire northeast portion of the united states grid to go down for several days all because of a solar flare. The grid today is not significantly different than it was then, and is not much more reliable. Basically, if you were skilled enough and malicious enough, you could potentially use smart meters to bring down the entire electrical grid in the US or any other country that uses them.

 
Iboc_C64 said:
I believe I read that it has been proven that hackers, given enough know how, can trick the system in to believing that your house is drawing more energy than it is. The problems there are greater than you just getting a high electric bill. The same data can be used to automatically add load to spinning reserves, bringing them online, overloading the transformers that don't really have any place to send the power and knocking out an entire electrical region. Many years ago, an stuck breaker at a substation in Canada cause the entire northeast portion of the united states grid to go down for several days all because of a solar flare. The grid today is not significantly different than it was then, and is not much more reliable. Basically, if you were skilled enough and malicious enough, you could potentially use smart meters to bring down the entire electrical grid in the US or any other country that uses them.
Click to expand...
I think Nic Cage just did this movie.

 
tin-foil-hat.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You are either

A. Scared of technology

B. Delusional

C. A narcissist.

if you think someone is going to "hack" your stupid house in bum eff Maine.

Nuclear submarines are run by computers.... SOMEONE MIGHT HACK THOSE TOO.

While I'm scaring you guys, might as well add this bit. The national guard has plenty of trucks that can tap into your cellphone conversations. Better cancel your cellphone too.

Educate yourself instead of fear mongering about inane stuff.

The only legitimate argument might be privacy, and in a day when people are voluntarily putting their entire lives on the internet, I highly doubt a shoebox glued to the side of your house should be your top priority.

 
Pedro said:
First: The only opt out on the table right now is to go without power

Second: The only thing that they can turn off is your power. Completely, not individual circuts (as per CMP website)

thirdly, why the big uproar over this? We had a "smart meter" when we had Kennebunk light and power. It was great because we ddin't have to shovel a path for the electric dude, and never got the ridiculous "estimated" usage bills. nobody died or got hacked. They knew our power was out before we called, and our rates were lower than CMP.

So for those of you with WIFI at home, why the aversion?
Click to expand...
No WIFI at home or on my computer.

 
I think the idea itself is neat BUT should not be implemented. First off, it seems like a HUGE security vulnerability to have your home power supply available VIA an internet connection that is supposed to be managed by the power company. How does CMP plan to provide their clients network security against unathorized access to these accounts?

Having the power grid open to the internet and average internet users is asking for a disaster. Most people have no concept of network security and will be accessing their home power controls via unsecured wireless networks as they randomly pick them up on their phone. Too much risk for me. I could go on, but it's easier to opt out.

To me, the price to opt out is much more appealing than the idea of my home power getting breached by some script kiddie in Romania.

I'm interested to see how this pans out. Subscribed.

 
WashmyScooby said:
Yea I opted out too. Now I have a bike in the basement that I pedal to light the lightbulb I use to read.

I'm with you Pedro, who really cares? I don't even really see a privacy concern here. If someone wanted to know how much power I was using they could just walk up to my house and read my meter anyway. Portland Water District can drive by and scan my water meter, why shouldn't CMP be able to? I think the poor guy that has to walk through the snow to get to my natural gas meter is getting the shaft! Maybe in the long run CMP will have to carry less labor hours and pass the savings on to us (unlikely, but a nice thought).
Click to expand...
The CMP person that comes by our house just drives up and scans with his reader and never gets out of the truck.

 
Iboc_C64 said:
I believe I read that it has been proven that hackers, given enough know how, can trick the system in to believing that your house is drawing more energy than it is. The problems there are greater than you just getting a high electric bill. The same data can be used to automatically add load to spinning reserves, bringing them online, overloading the transformers that don't really have any place to send the power and knocking out an entire electrical region. Many years ago, an stuck breaker at a substation in Canada cause the entire northeast portion of the united states grid to go down for several days all because of a solar flare. The grid today is not significantly different than it was then, and is not much more reliable. Basically, if you were skilled enough and malicious enough, you could potentially use smart meters to bring down the entire electrical grid in the US or any other country that uses them.
Click to expand...
I believe it would be easier for the bad guys to mess with and take down , turn off , whatever the power to homes with a smart meter over the old style. JMHO.

 
Carter said:
New generation vs older generation. I think it's a good thing and people are complaining about nothing. Otter cities around the country have been using them for years.
Click to expand...
Hey I am offended that you believe the new generation is better than the old generation
default_tongue.png
:p

 
SWPWRX said:
I think the idea itself is neat BUT should not be implemented. First off, it seems like a HUGE security vulnerability to have your home power supply available VIA an internet connection that is supposed to be managed by the power company. How does CMP plan to provide their clients network security against unathorized access to these accounts?

Having the power grid open to the internet and average internet users is asking for a disaster. Most people have no concept of network security and will be accessing their home power controls via unsecured wireless networks as they randomly pick them up on their phone. Too much risk for me. I could go on, but it's easier to opt out.

To me, the price to opt out is much more appealing than the idea of my home power getting breached by some script kiddie in Romania.

I'm interested to see how this pans out. Subscribed.
Click to expand...
I am glad there are a few of you on here that are like me and value privacy.

 
WashmyScooby said:
You have a choice. You can get a smart meter or build a windmill in the back yard:)
Click to expand...
Only if the town you live in allows widmills. If they do you are usally height restricted and if they fall must land within your property boundry. Than you have the bird lovers and neighbors to put up with.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top