Why? Two reasons: To prevent the loss of money and to save money.
Personally, I do not appreciate “money” being in the equation for reasons. Yet, money is the only reason for this change over. Why else would power companies change out American made, never-fail, electric meters to digital units made - where?
First fact was that too many people with very high electric bills blamed the meter instead of being accountable for their own consumption of power. I remember one energy audit I was doing for a homeowner who wanted me to provide proof that his electric “workhorse – never-fail” meter was defective and spinning faster to increase his electric bill. The year was 1988, there was no extra data on this homeowner collected through social media or Amazon purchases. None of that existed yet. Nevertheless, I was able to know from experience, and the story went pretty much like this:
I arrived at the homeowner’s house, and parked as close to the curb as possible, despite the accumulated snow in the street. The homeowner met me on his driveway and after introductions, I followed him to the electric meter mounted on the outside of his house.
“Excellent!” The homeowner exclaimed. “Look at that wheel on the meter spin! And there isn’t anything on inside. Not one lightbulb nor TV. I’m telling you, as these meters get old and worn out, the gears within spin faster.”
“Actually, the opposite is true,” I politely said to inform the homeowner. “As dust and dirt build up inside the meter over the decades, the gears slow down, thus lowering your electric bill from what the real cost should be. If you demand the power company to change out this meter to a new one, they will be happy to do so, and your electric bill will increase. Not by much, but it will be higher. You said your house and meter were almost 40 years old, well the power company is losing money on you. Then add up all the old slow running meters out there and the power company is losing a small fortune.”
The homeowner was ready to fire me on the spot as he stared at me in disbelief. “That can’t be true! Why is my meter spinning so fast when I’m not using any electricity inside?”
“I would say from the speed of the spinning wheel on your meter that you have an inefficient refrigerator and freezer with side by side doors operation right now in your kitchen and an extra Box freezer also running in your basement.”
The homeowner’s mouth dropped-open as his eyes widened, and then demanded, “how the hell do you know that? “You have never been inside my house!”
Sure enough, both appliances existed as I described and confirmed in the locations I cited, when we entered the house. Additionally, both appliances were running. After they stopped, I brought the homeowner outside to see his meter turning slowly. He then asked me what was consuming electricity now to have the wheel still turn, even at a slow rate? I listed for him the following:
“Your clock on the kitchen stove.
The clock on your coffee maker.
The clock on your microwave oven.
Your alarm clock or clocks plugged into an outlet.
A possible nightlight left on.
The timer for your table lamp in the living room for security reasons.
Did you shut off your lawn sprinkler timer?
Each Television plugged into an outlet is drawing ‘stand-by’ power.
Most of your entertainment equipment will also pull some power for ‘stand-by’ power. Equipment such as your stereo and video game box.”
(Use this LINK to learn more about ‘stand-by’ power)
“Additionally,” I said, “your heating system perhaps just came on, and the zone calling for heat activated the electric pump to send the heated water through your pipes and along your hot-water baseboards to heat that area of the house. Especially, since you had left the front door open since I arrived and only have the screen door closed.
Needless to say, I spent three more hours with that homeowner teaching him have to save without sacrificing.
So, with that loss of income for power companies and the second fact that they longed for saving all the salaries of meter readers. These two “money” reasons had the utilities look forward to digital meters. Meters that could be read by one person sitting in a car and reading every meter on the block electronically in a fraction of the time wirelessly.
As far as, the consumer, we are billed more accurately constantly and perhaps, depending on where the digital meter is located, such as outside a bedroom window with a bed by that window, a person may be exposed to extra electromagnetic fields? To know the truth about this and risks for young children, we need to search out studies published on this topic in peer reviewed scientific journals. Never trust what a politician says or a millionaire talking head on a cable or news channel network. They sensationalize to stay in office, sell more commercials, and make more money with higher ratings.
The moral to this blog is that we must be aware and accountable for our actions and consumption. We must stop blaming others or old dirt-filled electric meters. No one else is going to save you money and your health nor the world’s future for our children. All that is up to us and it starts in our own house or apartment.
Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!