Are Smart Meters a Waste of Money?

By Chris Clarke, published December 3, 2012, at The Grid

smart meters: a waste of money?

smart meters: a waste of money?

Smart meters are hyped as a necessary component of a modern “smart” power distribution grid, crucial if we’re to make our electrical infrastructure better able to conserve energy and cope with intermittent renewables. But a report released last week challenges that view of smart meters, charging that the costly appliances — paid for in large part with Stimulus funding — serve mainly to increase utility company profits.

Written by Timothy Schoechle, Ph.D. and published November 26 by the National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy, the report — “Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid” — poses a challenge to the usual arguments in favor of smart meters that you’ll read in renewable energy news stories. (Including here at ReWire.)

Schoechle, a former faculty member of the University of Colorado College of Engineering and Applied Science, has worked in the computer and communications engineering and energy utility spheres for 25 years, including work with the International Organization for Standardization.

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