VANCOUVER, BC (NEWS1130) – BC Hydro is blaming labour shortages, customer concerns and equipment shortages for the delay in installing the remaining smart meters across the province. It has now been given a one year extension by the government to complete the set-up.
Cindy Verschoor with Hydro says 93 per cent of meters have been installed . “The meter installations were scheduled for completion by the end of this year but of course we have had some customers ask for a temporary delay while we work with them and so this deadline just allows for a little more flexibility.”
Some people have refused to have smart meters installed over worries about the possible danger of high frequency radio waves, which the meters use to transmit wireless data to Hydro computers.
Verschoor says this will not have a delay on smart meters being able to report power outages automatically, she says that will still be up and running by the end of 2013. “Really it doesn’t have any impact on the people that have meters already and it has no impact on the completion of the program itself.”
According to hydro the smart meters are expected to pay for themselves by delivering $1.6 billion in benefits over 20 years. Verschoor says Hydro will not be receiving anymore funding for the extra time, it will have to work within the original budget.
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According to hydro the smart meters are expected to pay for themselves by delivering $1.6 billion in benefits over 20 years
BUT WE ALL KNOW THE METERS WILL ONLY LAST TEN YEARS
As Val put it, Smart Meters have no savings for us regardless. We do not even save anything by eliminating the people who read the old meters, because that function was done by a 3rd party company already, and they also read the gas and water meters at the same time. Therefore now that Hydro has stopped paying to read meters, the other 2 utilities (gas and water) will have to pay more for reading their meters in order to make up the difference (the wages of the Meter Readers were paid for by 3 companies but now only 2 companies must pay the same wages). This means your water and gas bills must go up the same amount as your Hydro bill drops based on eliminating Hydro Meter Readers. This info came directly from BC Hydro Smart Meter employee.
Thank you Campbell/Falcon for wasting our money.
I’m disappointed that we don’t have mobs with pitchforks and torches surrounding the BC Hydro offices over this ridiculous explanation for the new meters: automatic usage and power outage reporting. It seems the contemptuous authorities are so short on valid reasons for forcing the meters upon us that they grab on to straws. It’s an absurd explanation that can only fly in a stupefied society like this. If the power fails, I’ll call you guys. Along with many other people. It’s not a great secret or mystery when power fails, everyone knows it in about a millisecond. And whatever the cost for people employed in reading the meters today, the cost involved in installing the meters everywhere is so much greater that there is no comparison.
If this process was about saving money, we would have stayed with the old meters.
@deb What the hell does that have to do with anything?
These will increase everyones monthly power bill —- what a wonderful government we have!
Not enough workers! What a lot of B.S. I applied when I was on E.I. and was highly qualified for the position, said they would get back to me and never did! Bunch of idiot’s! Go figure!
Smartmeter program in Southern California Edison installed 5M meters for $1.6B. BC Hydro’s cost per installation is 300% higher. Whose pocket is the extra juice going to?
@Martin Kendell friends of BC Lying Liberals MLA’s
What an absolute joke. Watch the price tag go up now they need an extra year to complete the contract, when they should actually be penalized for it.
Also, why did the Smart Meter program cost 1 billion dollars, when the Smart Meter program for Ontario also cost 1 billion dollars, with almost a million more meters to install? Who got a nice fat kickback for this?
Says the guy from PG who likes the Seahawks. LOL.