Electric Co-op insists 'smart meters' not capable of monitoring appliance use

PLYMOUTH — In response to another press report that its so-called "smart meters" threatened the privacy of its customers, the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) this week again insisted that meters being installed throughout its service area are incapable of collecting or transmitting personal information and buttressed its statement with a technical report from the manufacturer.

On Tuesday the New Hampshire Union-Leader carried a story on its front page headlined "Smart Meter Fight Not Over, Neighbors Say," in which Joan Wirth of Bristol, founder of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Smart Meters, claimed "This is not just about Bristol anymore. This is all across the state."

The story recalls recalls the unsuccessful efforts of Wirth and others from Hundred Acre Woods, a residential development in Bristol, to forestall the installation of smart meters in court last spring, but offers no evidence of opposition to the initiative beyond that neighborhood. Representative Paul Simard (R-Bristol), who last month told The Laconia Daily Sun he was considering introducing legislation to require the consent of property owners before installing smart meters, is quoted as saying that the NHEC has not informed most customers that the meters are capable of gathering all sorts of information, which raises privacy issues.

Seth Wheeler, communications administrator of the NHEC, said yesterday that the front-page story prompted the utility to repeat that its meters can record and transmit only monthly electric usage, just as the conventional meters they are replacing. "Despite NHEC's repeated assertions to the contrary, '" the statement reads, "a small number of smart meter opponents have insisted that the REX2 meter can be used to determine what appliances are being used in the home or business, and that NHEC could sell that information to third party marketers or provide it to the manufacturer. According to the meter manufacturer," the statement continues, "the microcontroller in REX2 meters cannot be programmed in any configuration to capture such data."

An accompanying report by Elster Electricity, LLC of Raleigh, North Carolina, the maker of the meters, declares that "the REX2 meters deployed to date are not capable of identifying electricity use by specific appliances located within members'/consumers' premisses." The report includes a technical explanation, with photographs, of the limitations of the meters.

Furthermore, Wheeler noted that earlier this year the Legislature enacted a bill prohibiting the installation of meters capable of recording the electricity used by different appliances and equipment without the consent of the property owners. "We would be breaking law by installing meters with that capability," he said, adding that since June, 2011 the NHEC has replaced some 81,000 conventional meters and expects all of its approximately 83,000 customers.to have smart meters by the end of the month.

The NHEC serves 115 municipalities, including a small section of Laconia and and all or parts of eight towns in Belknap County.