In a recent conversation with my mother, I tried to explain the value of a smart meter and usage monitoring to her. It was a fascinating conversation that went absolutely nowhere. My mother is as prudent and environmentally aware as anyone can be. She grows many of her own vegetables, rarely wastes any resources and is of a mind that compels her to leave the planet to future generations in better condition than when she arrived here. Such a person should be chomping at the bit for a smart meter and related usage monitoring technology, shouldn’t she? Not so much, it turns out.
In a recent conversation with my mother, I tried to explain the value of a smart meter and usage monitoring to her. It was a fascinating conversation that went absolutely nowhere. My mother is as prudent and environmentally aware as anyone can be. She grows many of her own vegetables, rarely wastes any resources and is of a mind that compels her to leave the planet to future generations in better condition than when she arrived here. Such a person should be chomping at the bit for a smart meter and related usage monitoring technology, shouldn’t she? Not so much, it turns out.
She is not a highly sophisticated technology user, but she harbors no phobias of technology either. She welcomes new technology into her life when it makes sense and, like most of us, sometimes gets frustrated with learning new ways of doing things. But, she does have two computers and a wireless network and gets better at technology every day. Several months ago, she moved much of her banking online and, although initially frustrated with having to remember more passwords, has since come to enjoy the accessibility it provides. In short, there is every reason to believe she would welcome smart meters and load monitoring technology into her life, yet she doesn’t. But, why?
It turns out that practicality trumps technology for her. Her view is that she doesn’t need technology to tell her that an older refrigerator is less efficient than a new one, that leaving lights on unnecessarily wastes energy or that adjusting the thermostat will help conserve energy. She gets all of that in a “no-duh” kind of manner, as perhaps we all should.
In her view, such technology is not a prudent investment for utilities or consumers, unless an individual is unable to recognize and act on their own consumption patterns. After all, do we really need to be told by a device hanging on the wall that our meter is spinning faster than we might like? Can’t we just look around the house and turn off lights that aren’t being used, adjust the thermostat or replace appliances that are less efficient? The conversation brought me back to my childhood when I was constantly reminded to turn the lights off, put on a sweater, or – my favorite -- “we are not air-conditioning the great outdoors – close the door!”
Mom’s logic, it turns out, is a good re