The smart grid pilot project study (“Smart grid study highlights need for education,” Business, April 24) seems to make two suggestions that seem very premature.
The first is that lack of enthusiasm or usage by certain population segments in a pilot project will translate during full deployment. New technology takes time to get used to and needs some form of education so people are able to take full advantage of the benefits. In reality, the pilot project has been just that, an initial reaction to a new technology in an information vacuum. Once smart meters become more and more ubiquitous, government and utility outreach won’t be the only entities providing customers information. Besides friends, family, neighbors and co-workers trading information on how they are saving money, entrepreneurs and companies will be developing and marketing products and services (i.e. simple in-home devices, software, apps) that will help people understand their options and opportunities to save money.
The second suggestion is having the Illinois Commerce Commission consider eliminating cost increases for people who don’t choose to take advantage of the smart meter technology. That is a very disconcerting idea. Smart grid development and smart meter deployment is a multi-billion-dollar, 10-year infrastructure project. When we all chip in to build other infrastructure projects — like building a better road or extending the reach of public transportation — everyone pays to have the project built and various groups benefit in different, sometimes unequal ways. In addition, people who do nothing will still reap the benefits of an upgraded system even if they don’t choose to take advantage of smart meter opportunities.
To paraphrase an old adage: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. So let’s not talk about punishing the stable owner for the horse’s decision.
— Tom Wolf, executive director, Energy Council, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Chicago
