I certainly think that the consumer / home owner will have NO control over the smart grid being connected to their home. They may be able to see what they are consuming, but giving them control defeats the purpose of all this smart grid ideas - that the Utilities / Government will control the power being delivered to you "for the good of the many" and what you individually may want is of no concern.
It will actually contribute to the problems since "efficiecies" will allow the utilites to have "just enough" to get by on and if anything happens withing a grid then the whole grid will crash since living on the edge implies no spare capacity - which is what all this energy efficiency is about - not building and using what is avaualbe and if a peak happens then the homes will get cut off to save the "grid" and businesses where money is really made.
My own home is getting a smart meter this summer. It benefits the utlity in reading the meter remotely, and it help Government impose on utilties the ability to do congestion pricing like they want to do congestion traffic pricing - charge more when people USE IT THE MOST in order to change behavior - and of course since you HAVE to use it during that time frame all it does it generate more money for the Government to waste in other areas. I work for BPA - both a utility and a Government - and I see all this coming down the pike - and it is not pretty.
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