Smart Meters

Am I turning into the crazy guy in the woods who rants daily letters to the paper?  I hope not, but sometimes I worry.  And I know my wife does.  This was in Saturday's Garden Island.  

I dream of a sustainable Kaua’i.  One where we grow our own food and produce our own electricity.  Where we live with the resources we have without having to import those we don’t.

Then I wake up.  I read the letters in The Garden Island and I realize that it’s not going to happen.  Depending on the month, all we can talk about is the greatness of our cars, the sleaziness of a Co-Op that explores renewable energy, the inefficiencies of solar water heaters, or the health affects of Smart Meters.  We are looking backward at a time that we need to look forward.

Smart Meters are not some evil conspiracy for world domination by our local energy cooperative.  We have the potential to revolutionize our inefficient and outdated energy infrastructure.  Yet we are stuck debating whether the occasional burst of information from the Smart Meter is going to kill us or whether KIUC is going to sell our energy use information to the highest bidder.

Smart Meter technology is the first step towards a Smart Grid, which is one huge step towards energy independence.  Energy supply will accurately meet demand, but demand will be tempered by accurate pricing.  Those who use energy wisely (off-peak) will be rewarded, while those who don’t will pay the actual costs of that electricity generation.

We can live in the past, when oil was cheap, climate change a myth, jobs plentiful, homes worth something, and government worked.  Or we can look to the future.