White paper: Smart meters the customer’s view

I saw a TV ad saying 'we collect no personal information' in the sale of our product >>I think that TV ad portends the future People are angry that personal information has been used by corporations to throw them off health insurance, and then ruin their credit score and subsequent job opportunities. Moreover, corporations are shooting themselves in the foot putting the Energy Star logo on giant household appliances, as if a Hummer is an economy car. People do not believe in the corporate-led 'green' revolution. They want frank truthful answers, not gimmicks & trickery & glossy Corporate ads that paint a glorious picture without answering a single hard question. How's is this corporate attitude any different than N Korea? I think the smart meter is headed into a perfect storm >> corporations are unrealistically claiming that the smart grid will save money, yet the electric bill goes up > at the same time, local meter-reading jobs are ending while Bill Payer is required to pay for an imported meter that collects his personal data that can be used against him by corporations that pay no income tax and then bash the American worker as the problem >> and nobody knows where the controlling switch to the power will be located The next presidential election is going to carry strong elements opposing collection of personal information >> the smart meter is going to take a fall. Sad but true.

I agree with Gene that all this new data that smart meters will generate has the power to spook customers. Our research showed that, at the moment, people may prefer to use their own data in their own way rather than trust their energy supplier to use it wisely. There are also some usage scenarios we tested that gave people a 'big brother' feeling. Certainly an area to approach with care.