PG&E customer refuses to take smart meter, locks up old meter

[Liberal_in_LA]

PG&E customer refuses to take smart meter, locks up old meter

Mark Dieteman's meter isn't going anywhere.

When Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced it was installing smart meters, they weren't exactly giving customers the option of turning down the device. But one Bay Area man demanding his constitutional rights told CBS5 that he doesn't want a new meter. Period.

"To me it's unconstitutional, it's an invasion of my privacy," said Mark Dieteman.

The smart meter allows PG&E to watch energy usage remotely and lets customers monitor how much electricity they use. However, residents have blamed the devices for a dramatic increase in their bills, prompting calls for an investigation. A Bakersfield man also filed a class-action lawsuit, which claims customers were overcharged and should get a refund.

But Dieteman's beef isn't with his bill. It's with issues of privacy and Big Brother. And to show PG&E he's serious, he locked up his old meter. So what can PG&E do? An expert interviewed by CBS5 suggests the company can either shut down Dieteman's service or simply go ahead and install the device anyway, in which case, Dieteman says he's willing to put up a fight.

"If they show up they are going to have to go through me to get at it. It will take a court order and a whole bunch of police officers. PG&E needs to be stopped in their tracks here



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=59017&sfgabt=ttmabtb#ixzz0i1BnX6uj

[yodoobo]

1. who owns the meter in california?

If its customer owned I think he's got a good case.

if the power company owns it. Well - not so much.

[demosincebirth]

5. PG&E owns the meters.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

2. they should shut down his service.

[hunter]

3. Big Brother's gonna see those devious grow lights with the twisted power factor.

Actually my opinion isn't quite so strong as that because I don't think consumers who have a power factors close to unity are going to see any benefits from this. If PG&E consumers with power factors close to unity were to enjoy lower energy costs because the people with unusual power factors started paying their fair share, then fine, go at it, install the smart meters. But somehow I don't think that's what this is about. Everyone will pay more, and the people with odd sorts of power demand, most often not the consequence of any devious design, will pay even more than that.

[Edweird]

7. Here in Florida, growhouses typically divert before the meter.

[hunter]

10. Florida is so low tech...

Geez, anyone can jump a meter. :eyes:

Silicon Valley is in California, man, and everyone has a high tech start-up in their garage...

[Edweird]

12. Yeah? So how do they divert?

[hunter]

14. It's a dirty business.

.

[Edweird]

15. Details?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I admire his courage, even if he is wrong! (nt)

[tammywammy]

6. They've been putting those meters in around here

LOTS of complaints about their bills going waaaaay up, like double or triple. I'm scared to get one installed and I know it's coming.

[laughingliberal]

13. That would raise my suspicions. Why should a different meter be causing bills to go up?

Something about them does not sound right.

[tammywammy]

16. It's happening to a lot of people too

Lots of complaints. I sure as heck don't want this "smart" meter.

[kestrel91316]

18. Maybe they are charging more for electricity used at certain times???

Now that they have the smart meters I think they can do that more easily.

[tammywammy]

19. There was a lady that called in

Her rental property was empty in Dec and the heater off. Her bill went up over $100 higher than it was the previous Dec. People are saying their bills are going up $100-$300 more now. I'm on a set rate per kw, so we'll see what happens. A lot of the complaints are people that have gas heat too.

[conscious evolution]

20. That is what I suspect also.

[Edweird]

8. He doesn't have to let them install it... but then he doesn't have to have power either.

He doesn't get to choose which meter he gets.
However, if the utility is installing meters that are faulty - they need to fix it and make it right. Being ripped off sucks.

[RedRocco]

9. hey, I've been living without power for 14 months now.

the glow of kerosene lamps is kinda homey.

[Edweird]

11. I've lived without electricity and it sucked.

I'm sorry you're going through that.

I was in Palm Beach County, FL where it is basically warm all year 'round.
I know SC is cold - I grew up in Tennessee.

[MzNov]

17. wow, we could have refused it?

damn. They gave people on my block about 5 min. notice that they were installing them. The next day we got a letter!

My bill was a very decent $40/mo

Now = $177, $114, $92 over the winter!!!

Those rat bastards. I was hoping somebody will fight. Where do I sign?

[Foo Fighter]

21. Whoa! That's insane.

Sorry to hear you're getting screwed over like that. The last thing anybody needs in this economy is to have their budget blown apart.

I'm assuming your power consumption didn't really change during that time but even if it did, to go from $40 to $177 would require a majorly SERIOUS change. Now maybe if you had recently acquired, say, the McIntosh MC2KW amps (yeah, that's 2000 watts) and ran them 24/7, I could see where that could cause your power bill to go up a bit but not to the level you're experiencing. At any rate, I'm guessing that's not what happened in your case.
However, if I'm wrong, how do you like the Macs? ;)

So WTF is up with the "smart" meter? From your post, it sounds like it's nothing but a scam. I'm not sure how it works in your state but I would assume that there is someone in charge of the regulation of and/or oversight of the power companies. If that assumption is correct, are they launching an investigation? This whole thing just smacks of PG&E's version of giving themselves a "bailout."

[MzNov]

23. I wish it were the Mac that caused this!

I might not be whining so much :-)

Actually, I've had no no cable/internet usage since I got pissed at Comcast so that should have lowered my bill.

There was NO notice, no public hearings that I know of, just a contractor truck showing up outside hour house. I wasn't even home when then put mine on. My neighbor told me about it!

The next day they sent a letter out to residents advising of this change to the digital meter. It's stunning. Not even a warning.

I use my heater more of course and it's been cold this winter. But I'm the only person in the place and the first month should never have gone up like that. I adjust for the cold months, but now it should be back to close to $40.

I sent Pete Stark a blaring email about this. Hopefully when people comprehend what has happened, there will be an uprising. I forget the contractor's name but I meant to look them up too.

It's always something. When the economy blows, the prices of everything go higher and higher. And CA keeps sneaking more and more deductions, unannounced, from our paychecks. Maybe it's time to move.

:grr:

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Electricity/energy is becoming a changing game, to our detriment.

Smart meters, remote control of power, and Con Ed introducing an hourly pricing plan.

Cal. utilities are particularly predatory, in my experience.

[southernyankeebelle]

24. Good for standup in what you believe in. Already we have the menu patrol, the

fat patrol watching out for what people eat and I think in NY dinning place wants to ban salt. For me I don't care because I don't eat allot of salt. But I don't want any government to tell me what to eat, smoke or drink. Its none of their business. If I have to pay higher healthcare insurance, plane fare or whatever that is my business not the governments.