I don't think there has been an electric meter reader on my street all year. AFAICT some beeps flow somehow back to the main office. As Bill suggests, when they had the Customer LogIn working I saw ~~15 minute update intervals. Which means they also get a good sense of outages.
The outage monitoring system for the other electric company in Maine crashed in the big winter storm. Even my company was clearly overwhelmed, not knowing what was really down because so much was down. While house meter data tells you that West Oak St is dark, when many thousands of meters stop reporting they need a higher level of data, every main line junction.
And AFAIK, "IoT security" is pretty much off their radar. Most electric companies don't stamp their name on their ground wires, even though miles of the stuff gets pulled-off and sold for scrap. I bet "cyber security" is lower on their radar than it is on our home routers, plagued with default passwords and unsecured backdoors.
I had my gas meter changed over 10 years ago, because the battery went. The thing looked analogue to me. The bloke said it was a smart meter, but the system wasn't used. The gaining popularity of mobile phones had made it unreliable.
This was some short range system, so he still needed to be close to get a reading. I imagine some band reallocation caused the problem, but wouldn't you be miffed with the regulators if they stopped your system working. A positively ancient smart metering system.
I had an electric meter that could take a gsm card. Though it wasn't fitted. I think they want to have my meter talk to the local substation through the power wires. Then the substation relays the info using radio. Most have something resembling a TV aerial, except the smallest of installations. Who could still pass it along the local ring to a station upstream.
Deciding just how, was a stumbling point for some years. There were so many choices.
This was some short range system, so he still needed to be close to get a reading. I imagine some band reallocation caused the problem, but wouldn't you be miffed with the regulators if they stopped your system working. A positively ancient smart metering system.
I had an electric meter that could take a gsm card. Though it wasn't fitted. I think they want to have my meter talk to the local substation through the power wires. Then the substation relays the info using radio. Most have something resembling a TV aerial, except the smallest of installations. Who could still pass it along the local ring to a station upstream.
Deciding just how, was a stumbling point for some years. There were so many choices.
I have one of those inductive pickup's that sends data to a wireless display. I have put it on my neighbours supply. Now I know when I can 'pump up the volume' as he works unfathomable shifts, and may drive or cycle. Also when I should turn it down, because he is sleeping in the day. He must think I have some sort of esp.
Excellent spy gear. Every audiophile (with neighbours) should have one
Excellent spy gear. Every audiophile (with neighbours) should have one
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