New York Bill Would Allow Customers to Opt Out of Smart Meters; Undermine Federal ProgramBy Mike Maharrey Asm. Michael DenDekker (D East Elmhurst), along with a bipartisan coalition of four cosponsors, introduced Assembly Bill 4364 (A4354) in January. The legislation would allow New Yorkers to opt out of any utility company smart meter program with no penalty. The Assembly Energy Committee passed the bill on April 28. It now moves on to the Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. Smart meters monitor home energy usage in minute detail in real time. The devices transmit data to the utility company were it gets stored in databases. Anybody with access to the data can download it for analysts. Without specific criteria limiting access to the data, these devices create significant privacy issues. Smart meters can also be used to remotely limit power usage during peak hours. A4354 provides a comprehensive smart meter opt-out right for utility customers. It shall be the right of every customer of an electric and/or gas corporation, at no penalty, fee or service charge to decline the permission of his or her electric and/or gas corporation, (a) to replace an existing meter at such customers premises that is assigned to such customers account with a two-way smart meter or (b) to install any two-way smart meter device at his or her property without such customers consent. The legislation would also require utility companies to give customers 90-day notice before installing smart meter technology with a right to decline installation. It would also allow a customer to require removal of a smart meter with no charge for one year after installation. The proliferation of smart meters creates significant privacy concerns. The data collected can tell anybody who holds it a great deal about what goes on inside a home. It can reveal when residents are at home, asleep or on vacation. It can also pinpoint unusual energy use, and could someday serve to help enforce energy usage regulations. The ACLU summarized the privacy issues surrounding smart meters in a recent report. The privacy issues arent merely theoretical. According to information obtained by the California ACLU, utility companies in the state have disclosed information gatheredby smart meters on thousands of customers. San Diego Gas and Electric alone disclosed data on more than 4,000 customers. The vast majority of disclosures were in response to subpoenas by government agencies often in drug enforcement cases or efforts to find specific individuals, according to SFGate. Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network watchdog group, said the sheer number of data disclosures made by SDGE raised the possibility that government agencies wanted to sift through large amounts of data looking for patterns, rather than conducting targeted investigations. Refusing to allow a smart meter on your property is the only sure-fire way to ensure your energy use data wont fall into the hands of government agents or private marketers, or end up stored in some kind of government database. Passage of A4354 would make opting out a legal option for New Yorkers and give them control over their own privacy. The federal government serves as a major source of funding for smart meters. A 2009 program through the U.S. Department of Energy distributed $4.5 billion for smart grid technology. The initial projects were expected to fund the installation of 1.8 million smart meters over three years. The federal government lacks any constitutional authority to fund smart grid technology. The easiest way to nullify such programs is to simply not participate. A4364 would make that possible. If enough states pass similar legislation, and enough people opt out, the program will go nowhere. Weve seen a similar opt out movement undermining Common Core in New York. Opting out follows a strategy James Madison advised in Federalist #46. Refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union provides a powerful means to fight back against government overreach. Such actions in multiple states would likely be effective in bringing down federal smart meter programs. How do you go about getting a bill like that started in other states? They installed smart meter on my house without my knowledge I am very sensitive to it. Exactly! the feds have no Constitutional rights to force this upon us or charge us extra at opt out and monthly thereafter!! I want to ask if a really good magnet placed on the meter can jam the works? I do not understand why we have to live on the grid when people can , for a huge price, hook up a back up generator for times when the power is out? Is that not extortion? having to pay exorbitant prices to give yourself a light? The state doesnt need access to a smart meter to determine if a consumer is using too much power. But corporations need access to a two-way smart meter to alter the readings so the consumer pays more. 