• 31 OCT 12
    • 0

    Australian government to launch a smart meter “intensive public education” spin

    Moving bravely ahead with a national roll-out of smart meters, despite the mounting evidence that there is a significant health issue that urgently needs to be investigated, the Australian federal government will now be spending $$$ millions on a nation-wide smart meter “intensive public education” campaign. Why not spend some of that money to investigate the health issue? Of course not. God forbid! They may even find that the current crop of smart meters that they have committed themselves to are a health hazard – and then what for their big investment?

    So much for a precautionary policy to protect public health…………..

    Don
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    From Stop Smart Meters Australia:

    The Sydney Morning Herald, October 31, 2012;

    Switch off and get paid

    By Lenore Tayler

    Excerpt

    CONSUMERS will be able to cut their electricity bills by agreeing to companies remotely switching off their appliances during spikes in demand.

    The proposal is part of a package of federal government reforms expected to back ”cost-reflective pricing”. This will allow consumers to avoid peaks that occur for fewer than 40 hours every year but account for about 25 per cent of retail electricity bills.

    Under the proposal, households and businesses would be able to cut their bills by choosing to switch off during peak demand times when power costs soar.

    The system would be compulsory only for big users, with medium-sized users allowed to opt out and small users required to opt in if they want to switch off at peak times to reduce their bills.

    The power pricing package is designed to tackle the price drivers that account for 42 per cent of projected NSW electricity cost rises from 2010 to 2013 on top of the average 9 per cent impact of the carbon tax. It will be put to the premiers on December 7 and is outlined in government-backed recommendations from a special inquiry to be tabled in the Senate tomorrow.

    The ”opt in” recommendation could avoid big price rises for households that do not change their usage.

    The change would require a national distribution of smart meters and would be accompanied by intensive public education and special protections for low-income households.

    SNIP

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/switch-off-and-get-paid-20121030-28hrd.html#ixzz2ApZnJa7k

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