Tips on How to Save Energy and Money without a ‘Smart’ Meter

Posted on January 28, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Green Piggy BankI came across a brochure from energy.gov providing a list of “easy low-cost and no-cost ways to save energy.”

I like the mention of “no-cost” ways to save energy since smart meters cost billions and billions of dollars to deploy and expose consumers and society to significant risks.

If you do have a smart meter, the industry rhetoric is that you can use the information from that smart meter to lower your energy bills.

Well, I don’t need a smart meter to save energy.  If you perform any number of the actions listed below (courtesy of the Department of Energy), you will save energy and money.  By reviewing your next monthly utility bill, you’ll get an idea of how much you saved.

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Maine Supreme Court Affirms Judgment for Smart Meters Being ‘Safe Enough’

Posted on January 27, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Court GavelYesterday the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that wireless smart meters are safe enough to be installed upon customer homes and that fees associated with opting-out are reasonable and not unjustly discriminatory.

The Court decision was made in spite of the fact that one of the PUC Commissioners had included the following language as part of a December 2014 PUC Order:

“Thus as part of the safety finding, there is a low cost or no cost accommodations to recognize that there is some credible evidence of risk of chronic effects.  I find it is not a reasonable utility practice for CMP [Central Maine Power] to fail to provide sufficient risk mitigation and that CMP should provide an AMI meter with a transmitter turned off if recommended by a licensed doctor or medical practitioner.”

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‘Smart’ Meters Being Deployed without Transparency or Necessary Public Debate

Posted on January 26, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
Transparency on Smart Metersby K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

I have discovered several recently published articles and studies that provide profound insight on how the “smart grid” is envisioned to affect the consumer by those developing it and how substantial social implications of smart grid implementation are not being sufficiently addressed or publicly debated.

This article will explain who envisioned the smart grid and why smart meters are being deployed.  Empirical evidence will be presented on how consumer interests and rights are being ignored and why smart meter opposition by the public is fully justified and necessary.  Finally, this article provides possible solutions to correct some of the injustices being imposed upon the consumer.

Highlights and Key Points of this Article

  • Because of the absence of transparency or public debate, the smart grid lacks “democratic legitimacy.”

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Analyzing Your Smart Meter Data Leads to Big Profits for the Utilities

Posted on January 20, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Big Data Profits and Surveillance with Smart MetersAt this website I have previously demonstrated that utility smart meters invade behavioral privacy.  Additionally, last May I reported on a utility executive from Texas who was “very excited” about his utility treating your personal data as “an asset” and that “we can mine that data and use what we find from mining that data.”

More recently, I posted an article that ‘Smart’ Meters Generate a ‘Gold Mine of Data’ for Utilities.

This morning a company called GDS International, which organizes executive conferences for corporations on how to “advance their business for commercial success,” tweeted out the following:  “Massive customer data from smart meters …”  Continue reading →

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Federal Government Wants a Smart Meter “on EVERY home and business in the country.”

Posted on January 14, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
Energy.gov Grid Innovationsby K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today posted an article at energy.gov, entitled, “An Explainer: How ‘Grid Modernization’ Could Improve Your Life.”  The article states:

“With funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DOE helped jumpstart this shift [to a modernized grid] by deploying over 16.6 million ‘smart meters’, which enable two-way communication.  We hope to ultimately see these meters on every home and business in the country.” [1] [2]

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Puppet Attack: Newly Discovered Cyber Threat for Smart Meters

Posted on January 13, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Smart Meter Puppet AttackA newly discovered cyber security threat for utility smart meters, called a “puppet attack,” is described in the January 2016 issue of the Journal of Network and Computer Applications.  The paper itself is entitled, “Puppet attack: A denial of service attack in advanced metering infrastructure network.”

The new “puppet attack” results in what is called a denial of service for smart meters using wireless mesh network technology.  As described in the Abstract for the article:

“The intruder can select any normal node as a puppet node and send attack packets to this puppet node.  When the puppet node receives these attack packets, this node will be controlled by the attacker and flood more packets so as to exhaust the network communication bandwidth and node energy.”

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Posted in Smart Grid, Smart Meters, and RF Emissions | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

‘Smart’ Meters Represent Industrial Profiteering and Government Sanctioned Surveillance, According to Study

Posted on January 11, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Consumer Dataveillance by Smart MetersIn an article from December 31st, I wrote that ‘Smart’ Meters Generate a ‘Gold Mine of Data’ for Utilities and that they provide a ‘gateway’ to the home.

To better understand the full nature of this “data gold mining” and the motives behind it, I will highlight portions of a newly published paper, “The Neoliberal Politics of ‘Smart’: Electricity Consumption, Household Monitoring, and the Enterprise Form.”  The authors are from Portland State University.

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CDC June 2014 Guidance: “We recommend caution in cellphone use.” … and the Story behind the Backtracking.

Posted on January 2, 2016 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Cell Phone Exposure to BrainIn June 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revised its webpage for “FAQ About Cell Phones and Your Health” to state the following [1]:

“Along with many organizations worldwide, we recommend caution in cell phone use.”

This precautionary language went almost unnoticed until about two months later.  Continue reading →

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‘Smart’ Meters Generate a ‘Gold Mine of Data’ for Utilities

Posted on December 31, 2015 by SkyVision Solutions
by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

Smart Meter 'Big Data' Gold MineI have been saying for a number of years that utility smart meters invade your privacy and have substantiated this assertion in a number of ways.

Utility companies dismiss privacy invasion claims by replying with simplistic, misleading statements, such as, “Just like standard meters, smart meters will measure the amount of electricity you use – not how you use it.” [1]

In trying to find a new and simple way to explain how smart meters are in fact invading your privacy much more than traditional meters, I thought of an analogy of comparing smart meter data collection with “mining for gold.”

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Posted in Smart Grid, Smart Meters, and RF Emissions | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Investigation: US power grid and ‘smart’ meters vulnerable to hacks

Posted on December 21, 2015 by SkyVision Solutions
US Power Grid under Attackby K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions

The Associated Press National Investigative Team today published a comprehensive article detailing the vulnerabilities of the US power grid to hackers.  Here are selected excerpts from that article, “AP Investigation:  US power grid vulnerable to foreign hacks”:

“Security researcher Brian Wallace was on the trail of hackers who had snatched a California university’s housing files when he stumbled into a larger nightmare:  Cyberattackers had opened a pathway into the networks running the United States power grid.

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