Pubdate: Thu, 29 Dec 2011
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Mike Taylor
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Mike Taylor

SMART METERS WILL HELP REDUCE HYDRO THEFT

More than $100 million worth of electricity is stolen from BC Hydro
every year, with much of it stolen to power marijuana grow-ops. As an
honest BC Hydro customer, it makes me more than just a little unhappy
to know that people are stealing electricity. It makes me even more
unhappy to know that the cost of all that stolen electricity gets
added to the hydro bills of honest BC Hydro customers like you and
me.

That's why I'm glad BC Hydro is finally installing smart meters
and putting an end to preventable electricity theft. Smart meters will
let BC Hydro zero in on electricity theft quickly and accurately and
shut down the perpetrators. The old mechanical meters BC Hydro has
relied on since the 1940s and 1950s simply can't do that.

All they can do is measure how much electricity has gone through them,
and they only get checked manually every couple of months (long after
the opportunity to catch electricity thieves has passed).

I doubt that most people are still using the same appliances, phones,
TVS and radios that were around in the 1940s and 1950s? So why would
anyone want to use metering technology from 50 or 60 years ago,
especially when smart meters can detect electricity theft and save BC
Hydro customers $100 million per year? Investing in smart meters is
well worth the cost. And preventing the theft of $100 million a year
will basically pay for the meters in just ten short years.

Mike Taylor

Port Moody
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D