New Kentucky Governor Stopped Utility “Smart” Meter Rollout When He Was Attorney General. Why All Elected Officials Should.

By B.N. Frank

Tens of millions of utility “Smart” Meters have been installed in the U.S. and worldwide so it’s likely that they have been installed on your home and throughout your community.

These meters are so problematic that many elected officials have taken action against them (see 1, 2) including newly elected Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear. He put the kibosh on their continued deployment while he was Attorney General.

From AARP Kentucky:

Kentucky Utilities Co. and Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (KU/LG&E) seeks permission from the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to install some 1.3 million smart meters over the next four years. On behalf of its 470,000 members in Kentucky, AARP Kentucky’s Public Comments ask the Public Service Commission to reject the proposed smart meter request by KU/LG&E Case: 2018-00005.

AARP appreciates this opportunity to comment on the latest proposal of Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for deployment of advanced metering systems. LG&E-KU have asked to install smart meters throughout their systems. AARP believes that a smart meter roll-out is not needed. It costs too much.

As the Attorney General’s expert witness shows, the costs of the proposed roll out exceed the benefits.
Too many Kentucky customers are already having trouble paying for electricity and natural gas service. The utilities want customers to pay to retire the meters now in service. There is no need to add costs to retire these meters prematurely.

Further, AARP believes there is no need to rush this investment. Today, 25 percent of customers already have a smart meter. The utilities can continue the slow roll out, retiring existing meters without charging customers extra and moderating the pace of rate increases.

The PSC just rejected the proposal in an earlier 2017 rate case. Nothing has changed since then to make a universal roll-out any more sensible. And if the utilities are sure they are offering a program with benefits exceeding costs, they can refile the proposal in their upcoming rate case this fall. At least then it can be reviewed in the context of other burdens on customers and other possible uses of the investment.

The bottom line, AARP asks the Commission to reject the smart meter proposal. We can’t afford it and it is not needed.

Utility “Smart” Meters have been associated with many issues including cyberattacks, fires and explosions (see 1, 2), measurement errors and inflated bills, malfunctioning and breaking appliances. They also violate our right to privacy and can make people sick (see 1, 2, 3). Original analog meters lasted on average 40 years and didn’t have all these problems associated with them.

Activist Post reports regularly about “Smart” Meter and “Smart” Grid problems and opposition. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites:

Image credit: StopSmartMeters.org

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