[Newsbot]

Title: BC Hydro hit with smart meter class-action lawsuit
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2013-07-27 17:03:51
Canadian

[martin14]

Good for her, hope she wins.

It's a worldide thing, btw.
The are now starting to install these in the UK as well.

[Freakinoldguy]

Why do people assume that they have a "right" to electricity and as such think they can demand what the power companies can and can't do with no repercussions. Hydro isn't like the medical care system where they pretty much take care of you no matter what because it's paid through taxes. Hydro is a gov't sold commodity paid for through those sales and if you don't believe me just don't pay your bill for a couple of months and see how long your power stays on or if a judge will side with you for not paying your bill because you don't like Hydro's policies?

If she's serious about not wanting a smart meter then she should opt out, pay the extra money, have her smart meter replaced with an analog or deactivated one and stop tying to dictate what hydro can and can't do with their own resources.

[martin14]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

If she's serious about not wanting a smart meter then she should opt out, pay the extra money, have her smart meter replaced with an analog or deactivated one and stop tying to dictate what hydro can and can't do with their own resources.

Well, that was kind of the point. It was pointed out people could opt out.. I did,
told the guy when he came around.. no. He left.

But BC Hydro has been very aggressive with pushing people to change, including
not informing people of their rights, or not respecting them.
She got a smart meter in spite of saying no.


The extra money is just a smokescreen, just like the banks charging
you to snailmail a paper statement.. easy money for them.

[saturn_656]

In Ontario nobody had the right to say no to a smart meter.

They also snuck in an additional charge on everyone's hydro bill to pay for the bloody things.

Hydro here has a knack for doing that, rather than paying for things out of their "profits", it simply becomes a new line item on our bills.

[Freakinoldguy]

martin14 martin14:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

If she's serious about not wanting a smart meter then she should opt out, pay the extra money, have her smart meter replaced with an analog or deactivated one and stop tying to dictate what hydro can and can't do with their own resources.

But BC Hydro has been very aggressive with pushing people to change, including
not informing people of their rights, or not respecting them.
She got a smart meter in spite of saying no.

I wonder if the asshat's installing them are the problem or if it's hydro themselves. My guess is that the company that's contracted to install them pays their employees by the number of installations which would make them do the devious things like people claim they've been doing. Things like installing them when someone's not home or telling people they have to have them.

But you're right contractor or not Hydro is ultimately responsible and shouldn't allow it to happen.

[Xort]

What's the problem with the meter?

[Freakinoldguy]

Xort Xort:

What's the problem with the meter?

Some people claim it's RF frequency screws them up, some people claim it's spying on them, some people don't like hydro dictating to them, some people don't think they're accurate and will eventually be used for peak hours billing like Ontario, some people just hate change or have family members who are meter readers and finally we have the dope growers who can no longer cut into the source line before the meter without triggering an alarm at Hydro.

Whatever the reasons 4% of BC homes opted out and now have the option of paying an extra 20 dollars a month to employ a meter reader just to keep their analog or deactivated smart meters.

Their money, their choice, which is fair.

[Xort]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Some people claim it's RF frequency screws them up,

I wish science was a required class to graduate high school.

[herbie]

Lay off all the meter readers. Pipe to an Asian data center, lay off all the Canadian data processors in the billing centers. Prepare for varying rates based on time of day use.
Let's NOT talk about the real reasons we should oppose the meters, ever. Let's just repeat the tinhat opposition over and over.
And especially: avoid ALL RF discussion about effectively stealing an entire public spectrum, not even contributing a nickel to effect the above "savings". There are last mile neighbourhoods that have lost their internet access due to these things. As no last-mile provider can out-lawyer a Hydro company, they're obligated to switch all their ISP equipment. If they can....

[DrCaleb]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Xort Xort:

What's the problem with the meter?

some people claim it's spying on them,

and will eventually be used for peak hours billing like Ontario,

Those are probabally quite true.

The meters can report back at any interval the company wants. If they did it, say every 5 minutes, the power company would have a good idea when you get up, go to work, come home, make dinner and go to bed. If they knew the draw rates of different appliances, they could tell when you used your dishwasher, dryer, TV, Jacuzzi tub . . .

And they could also charge you different rates for different times of day.

[martin14]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Xort Xort:

What's the problem with the meter?

some people claim it's spying on them,

and will eventually be used for peak hours billing like Ontario,

Those are probabally quite true.

The meters can report back at any interval the company wants. If they did it, say every 5 minutes, the power company would have a good idea when you get up, go to work, come home, make dinner and go to bed. If they knew the draw rates of different appliances, they could tell when you used your dishwasher, dryer, TV, Jacuzzi tub . . .

And they could also charge you different rates for different times of day.

You forgot turning on the lights to grow your dope.

Or cutting into the power to sneak an illegal connection around the
meter to grow your dope.

So it's not all bad.

[DrCaleb]

martin14 martin14:

You forgot turning on the lights to grow your dope.

Or cutting into the power to sneak an illegal connection around the
meter to grow your dope.

So it's not all bad.

Smart growers buy or steal their own generators, and the rest of us get punished.

[Freakinoldguy]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

martin14 martin14:

You forgot turning on the lights to grow your dope.

Or cutting into the power to sneak an illegal connection around the
meter to grow your dope.

So it's not all bad.

Smart growers buy or steal their own generators, and the rest of us get punished.

I wanted to change out my power panel. Well I got a quote of over $2000.00 from an electrical company and when I stopped laughing, I asked them why the fuck so much?

They explained that any upgrades in a home have to be dope grower resistant, just like the child proof caps so, apparently you now have to have a line placed on the outside of your house in a metal pipe just so that the dope growing asshats can't cut into it ahead of the meter without it being obvious, even if you just want to upgrade your panel.

Ridiculous.

As of now I'll keep my old system with the pipe inside the wall, who knows it may be a selling feature especially here in BC.