Smart Meters - Public Service Commission

Wait — California smart meters do have
problems
By Deborah Gage | September 8, 2010, 11:30 PM PDT
Remember how an independent investigator said last week
that the millions of smart meters being installed across Northern California by Pacific
Gas & Electric were not malfunctioning and overcharging customers, even though a
lawsuit against PG&E and over 1,300 customers claimed they were?
Now the San Jose Mercury News says it’s collected dozens of complaints on its Action
Line from readers who claim that the wireless smart meters interfere with their
household electronics — cordless phones, crib monitors, patio speakers, wireless
headsets and microphones, home security systems, motion detectors and remotecontrolled
garage doors — as the meters transmit their power data back to the mother
ship.
PG&E, which was dinged for poor customer service, told the newspaper that the
problems are not with the smart meters, but with all the other wireless equipment their
customers have. Here, a PG&E spokesman advises one customer to get a refund on the
baby monitor:
“We are sorry the customer encountered this inconvenience. The SmartMeter device
meets all Federal Communications Commission standards, so in cases like this, the baby
monitor wasn’t built to a standard where it would not receive interference from legally
transmitted equipment like a SmartMeter meter. It is likely that the replacement
monitor was designed so it would not receive interference from legally transmitting
equipment, which is why it is no longer experiencing interference. This reader might
want to seek a refund from the store or maker of the first monitor she purchased.”
The investigator, Structure, did say in its report that no new issues had cropped up with
the meters — PG&E was aware of this one already.
My prediction? Watch for a lot more conflicts like this before smart meters are accepted
without questions by the public.