I know someone who is building a nice home in the eastern outskirts of our fair city, on a remote acreage that requires a personal visit from the local electric meter-reader person. The home sits on top of a rather steep hill and, because of locked gates and such, there is no way to get within a comfortable driving distance of the meter.
What this means is that the electric meter-reader person has to park at the bottom of the hill and hump their way up about 200 yards to be within reading range of the meter. For the current electric meter-reader person, who happens to be a male of rather substantial size and weight, this monthly trek up the hill represents a considerable physical challenge. “Oh,” said he once, “that there was a better way.”
When I heard this story, I thought, “Why, of course there’s a better way! Electric meters can be read remotely from headquarters (or, at least, from a more convenient place) and meter-reader man can save his strength for other, more noble tasks.”
Such is the promise of so-called “smart meters,” which our community has been targeted to receive as part of a guinea-pig project run by our local electric utility company. Perhaps you’ve seen the mailings and inserts that have accompanied your electric bill: “Aren’t smart meters great? Get one today!”
“Smart meters” are, in essence, nothing more than a small computer that plugs into the electrical wiring of your home or business, augmenting or replacing the traditional glass-enclosed meters that we are all used to seeing. The promise of smart meter technology is bright: so-called “remote metering” means that meter-reader man can leave his hiking gear at home, because electric usage can be determined from the electric utilities’ headquarters.
Other touted benefits include “load balancing,” which means that certain appliances in your home, such as refrigerators and washing machines, can be slowed down or even turned off if it is determined that they are using too much electricity at the wrong time.
In fact, electricity to your home can be completely terminated by remote control in case of tardy payment of your bill, natural disaster, or any other reason that strikes the fancy of the guy with his finger on the “off” button. You know what it’s like when your personal computer crashes. “Smart metering” means that every single house and business will have its own, individual electricity-controlling computer. What will it be like when the computer controlling all of the electricity to your house crashes? I wonder how many times the electric utility companies will have to say, “Oops, sorry; we suck. Too bad for you.”
As if that weren’t enough to give one pause, how do you like the idea of some sleazy hacker or terrorist parked near your home or place of business, using his laptop computer to wirelessly hack into all of the smart meters within range, jacking up the bills or shutting down service altogether?
Lest you think this is some crazy scene from “24,” where Jack Bauer needs to ride to the rescue and save the world, it’s not. This is real, this is now and this is the future. Google for “smart meter security” and you’ll see what I mean. Security researchers, hired by major utility companies, reported this week just how easy it is to hack into the entire “smart meter/smart grid” system and screw things up. It seems that, in their zeal to rush new money-making technology out to their customers, the electric utility companies forgot one vital thing: security.
My choice is to wait before agreeing to let the electric company slap a shiny, new smart meter on the back of my house. As with most new computer technology, I choose not to be on the “bleeding edge.” Better to let the other lemmings rush out and fall off the cliff first. Smart meter technology will get better and security will improve, but, not now; not at my house.