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Smart Meter Chaos: Maryland PSC Gets Real (consumerism, anyone?)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 25, 2010

“The Proposal would not, in and of itself, enhance the electricity transmission grid or the Company’s distribution ‘backbone,’ and therefore it doesn’t justify the proposed customer surcharge by BG&E.”

– Public Service Commission of Maryland, IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION BEFORE THE OF BALTIMORE GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY FOR AUTHORIZATION TO DEPLOY A SMART GRID INITIATIVE  AND TO ESTABLISH A SURCHARGE FOR THE RECOVERY OF COST CASE NO. 9208 (June 22, 2010)

The smartest guys in the electricity room believe that a path to energy efficiency and environmental goodness is to hook up so-called smart meters for us little users. The smart machines would signal (jolt?) us to use less power in peak times when the price is high and to use power more when the price is low.

But the very concept has problems aplenty. …