Installation is to begin by mid-2011, and customers will receive notices along with their bills when installers are coming to their community.
Once a smart meter is installed, customers with computers will be able to log into their secure BC Hydro account and see a nearly real-time display of their electricity use.
Here is a skeptical opinion piece from the Tyee in Aug. A Skeptic's Guide to BC Smart Meters
And a report from securityweek.com of some problems people in Main are experiencing with smart meters:
About 200 customers of the Central Maine Power Company recently noticed something odd after the utility installed smart meters in their homes: in some cases other wireless devices stopped working, or behaved erratically.
I like the idea of having a more granular understanding of what is using the most power in my house, when our peak power use is, etc.but it is apparent from a google search on 'smart meters bc' there are far more results related to people opposed to the plan than for it.
BC has a long history of grass roots movements derailing government initiatives like this so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Issues like this are prime targets for movements like OWS as, in my opinion, a lot of resistance comes from a lack of trust that companies like BC Hydro or the provincial government actually have the best interests of the citizens at heart.
My suggestion would be to err on the side of transparency.
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