Editor:
It is often said that the vocal minority can appear to make a majority.
In the case of smart metering, I believe that is exactly what has been happening. An extremely vocal minority has been very adamantly opposed to smart metering and has been making such a protest, people are assuming everyone is opposed.
We live in a world filled with electronic signals. The very laptop I am writing this letter on is currently connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. Practically everyone uses a cellphone at some point during the week.
The amount of transmission time a smart meter is going to put out is trivial in comparison to the set of signals already out there.
The reality of smart metering is that it will enable BC Hydro to more effectively allocate resources. By having a better understanding of usage patterns, the right amount of electricity can be fed to the grid when needed. Hydro doesn’t know minute by minute what your usage is, it knows that in the morning you used X kWh and so on.
Smart metering will enable end users to have a meter in their home with an hour-by-hour – or even real-time – display of their consumption. That data is entirely optional to produce and only sent to your device, not to Hydro. Much like many of us have learned to drive smarter and save on gas with the “fuel economy” gauge in our cars.
I just had my smart meter installed this past week and I look forward to being able to reduce my consumption by understanding just how much electricity my household produces.
Smart metering is a controversial topic; indeed there is some legitimate concern. However, to claim that the vast majority of citizens are opposed to it based on a few letters to the editor is absurd.
Andrew Wallwork, White Rock