Think About This...Over The Weekend
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Think About This...Over The Weekend
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New electricity grids may be smart, but not so private
By Mark Jaffe
The Denver Post
Posted: 05/18/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 05/18/2010 02:56:48 PM MDT
The "smart" electric grid may be just a little too smart. Once a smart meter is attached to a home, it can gather a lot more data than just how much electricity a family uses.
It can tell how many people live in the house, when they get up, when they go to sleep and when they aren't home.
It can tell how many showers they take and loads of laundry they do. How often they use the microwave. How much television they watch and what kind of TV they watch it on.
Almost 200,000 smart meters are now being installed between Fort Collins and Pueblo, and across the country 52 million smart meters will be installed by 2015, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimate.
"This is technology that can pierce the blinds," said Elias Quinn, author of a smart grid privacy study for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
"Insufficient oversight could lead to an unprecedented invasion of consumer privacy," Quinn warned in his report to the PUC.
Law enforcement, government agencies and corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, already are eyeing all that data.
The transformation of the electric grid into a smart, sophisticated two-way energy and communication system is seen as a way to better manage power and improve efficiency.
The federal government has put up $3.4 billion to help speed smart-grid development.
The technology, however, poses new questions for consumer and privacy advocates, state regulators and federal officials.
How do you protect the information? Who should have access, and what happens if it falls into the wrong hands?
"Privacy and cybersecurity are among the greatest challenges in implementing the smart grid," said Nick Sinai, energy and environment director at the Federal Communications Commission.
Tackling privacy issues
Federal agencies and some states — including Colorado and California — are now moving to deal with privacy and security risks posed by the smart grid.
The Colorado PUC opened a docket in August to gather comments on whether the state rules governing privacy are sufficient.
The commission is reviewing the testimony to decide whether further action is necessary, said PUC spokesman Terry Bote.
New rules are needed, said Bill Levis, director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel.
"The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable search," Levis said. ". . . But I don't think the founding fathers could ever have thought of this kind of stuff."
Sinai said one lesson from the Internet is that it is cheaper and more effective to build in privacy and security protections at the start.
In the meantime, utilities continue to install smart meters. Xcel is installing 23,000 smart meters in Boulder as part of its SmartGridCity pilot, according to company officials.
By the end of this year, all 96,000 Colorado homes and businesses served by Black Hills Energy will have smart meters, with the help of a $6.1 million federal grant.
Fort Collins has plans to install 79,000 smart meters with the help of $18.1 million in federal funds.
Colorado utilities, executives say, have been collecting and protecting customer data for years.
"The level of data we receive with the smart grid may change, but the privacy principle remains very much the same — specific data stays between us and the customer," said Megan Hertzler, director of data privacy for Xcel Energy.
Still, Xcel is "getting a lot more requests for customer usage information now that it is seen as more desirable," Hertzler said.
Most of the inquiries are from companies that want the information for marketing. Xcel has not released any of the data, executives said, and declined to name the companies making the requests.
The key differences between the meter on the side of most houses now and the smart meter deal with time and communication.
Meters are currently read once a month; smart meters take readings every 15 minutes. Future models may take readings every six to eight seconds.
And all that information doesn't wait for a meter reader. It is instantaneously communicated to the utility by fiber-optic cable, broadband or Wi-Fi.
Black Hills already is collecting customer energy use once a day, said Carl Fulbright, the utility's Colorado operations manager.
Manufacturers — including General Electric and Whirlpool — are developing "smart appliances" that will be able to communicate with the smart grid and create even more information.
"Smart meters, smart appliances, smart outlets will continually collect information — the type of information that isn't addressed by current laws," said Rebecca Herold, a privacy, security and compliance consultant.
Herold is a member of a cybersecurity working group with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's project for national smart-grid operating standards.
"There are going to be all kinds of demands for smart-grid information," said Annabella Lee, NIST senior cybersecurity strategist.
"We are looking at companies like Microsoft and Google seeking data, and there is the question of how the laws apply to that," Lee said.
Firms: Individuals in control
Seeking to tap into the smart grid, Google's PowerMeter and Microsoft's Hohm are online energy management tools consumers can use to analyze their home electricity data.
"We recognize our responsibility to protect the data that users entrust to us. . . . We don't sell users' personal information," Google said in testimony to the California Utilities Commission in April.
Microsoft, in an e-mail response to questions from The Denver Post, also emphasized that it is the individual that controls the data.
"All of your personal data is encrypted in Hohm storage to help further protect your data," the Microsoft statement said.
Boulder-based Tendril Networks Inc. is a startup developing home energy management systems that use the smart grid and items such as smart thermostats and outlets.
New electricity grids may be smart, but not so private
By Mark Jaffe
The Denver Post
Posted: 05/18/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 05/18/2010 02:56:48 PM MDT
The "smart" electric grid may be just a little too smart. Once a smart meter is attached to a home, it can gather a lot more data than just how much electricity a family uses.
It can tell how many people live in the house, when they get up, when they go to sleep and when they aren't home.
It can tell how many showers they take and loads of laundry they do. How often they use the microwave. How much television they watch and what kind of TV they watch it on.
Almost 200,000 smart meters are now being installed between Fort Collins and Pueblo, and across the country 52 million smart meters will be installed by 2015, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimate.
"This is technology that can pierce the blinds," said Elias Quinn, author of a smart grid privacy study for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
"Insufficient oversight could lead to an unprecedented invasion of consumer privacy," Quinn warned in his report to the PUC.
Law enforcement, government agencies and corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, already are eyeing all that data.
The transformation of the electric grid into a smart, sophisticated two-way energy and communication system is seen as a way to better manage power and improve efficiency.
The federal government has put up $3.4 billion to help speed smart-grid development.
The technology, however, poses new questions for consumer and privacy advocates, state regulators and federal officials.
How do you protect the information? Who should have access, and what happens if it falls into the wrong hands?
"Privacy and cybersecurity are among the greatest challenges in implementing the smart grid," said Nick Sinai, energy and environment director at the Federal Communications Commission.
Tackling privacy issues
Federal agencies and some states — including Colorado and California — are now moving to deal with privacy and security risks posed by the smart grid.
The Colorado PUC opened a docket in August to gather comments on whether the state rules governing privacy are sufficient.
The commission is reviewing the testimony to decide whether further action is necessary, said PUC spokesman Terry Bote.
New rules are needed, said Bill Levis, director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel.
"The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable search," Levis said. ". . . But I don't think the founding fathers could ever have thought of this kind of stuff."
Sinai said one lesson from the Internet is that it is cheaper and more effective to build in privacy and security protections at the start.
In the meantime, utilities continue to install smart meters. Xcel is installing 23,000 smart meters in Boulder as part of its SmartGridCity pilot, according to company officials.
By the end of this year, all 96,000 Colorado homes and businesses served by Black Hills Energy will have smart meters, with the help of a $6.1 million federal grant.
Fort Collins has plans to install 79,000 smart meters with the help of $18.1 million in federal funds.
Colorado utilities, executives say, have been collecting and protecting customer data for years.
"The level of data we receive with the smart grid may change, but the privacy principle remains very much the same — specific data stays between us and the customer," said Megan Hertzler, director of data privacy for Xcel Energy.
Still, Xcel is "getting a lot more requests for customer usage information now that it is seen as more desirable," Hertzler said.
Most of the inquiries are from companies that want the information for marketing. Xcel has not released any of the data, executives said, and declined to name the companies making the requests.
The key differences between the meter on the side of most houses now and the smart meter deal with time and communication.
Meters are currently read once a month; smart meters take readings every 15 minutes. Future models may take readings every six to eight seconds.
And all that information doesn't wait for a meter reader. It is instantaneously communicated to the utility by fiber-optic cable, broadband or Wi-Fi.
Black Hills already is collecting customer energy use once a day, said Carl Fulbright, the utility's Colorado operations manager.
Manufacturers — including General Electric and Whirlpool — are developing "smart appliances" that will be able to communicate with the smart grid and create even more information.
"Smart meters, smart appliances, smart outlets will continually collect information — the type of information that isn't addressed by current laws," said Rebecca Herold, a privacy, security and compliance consultant.
Herold is a member of a cybersecurity working group with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's project for national smart-grid operating standards.
"There are going to be all kinds of demands for smart-grid information," said Annabella Lee, NIST senior cybersecurity strategist.
"We are looking at companies like Microsoft and Google seeking data, and there is the question of how the laws apply to that," Lee said.
Firms: Individuals in control
Seeking to tap into the smart grid, Google's PowerMeter and Microsoft's Hohm are online energy management tools consumers can use to analyze their home electricity data.
"We recognize our responsibility to protect the data that users entrust to us. . . . We don't sell users' personal information," Google said in testimony to the California Utilities Commission in April.
Microsoft, in an e-mail response to questions from The Denver Post, also emphasized that it is the individual that controls the data.
"All of your personal data is encrypted in Hohm storage to help further protect your data," the Microsoft statement said.
Boulder-based Tendril Networks Inc. is a startup developing home energy management systems that use the smart grid and items such as smart thermostats and outlets.
Chapter President
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,375
Likes: 7
From: misplaced Idahoan stuck in Albuquerque, Roughneckin on RIG 270
YAHOO! Another way for big brother to find out what I am doing. Guess turning the welder on full power and on high freq is going to be an attempt to fuzzy the meter! LOL
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,780
Likes: 0
From: Pasadena, MD
I don't get the point (besides big bro further intruding into our lives, all I can say is you don't eat an elephant in one bite, you do it a little at a time) Monitoring who does what is not going to change how much electricity is needed for the grid so who gives a flying hoot?
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 335
Likes: 0
From: Huffman, Tx.
I think that I am going to come up with some type of "smart meter cover" that employs iodized salt about 2" thick, encased in a battery powered electromagnet, to protect my smart meter from the elements and possibly make meter spin backward.....lolol
Gary
Gary
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: Ft. Collins, CO.
I live in Ft. Collins and all I can say is, edit edit edit edit big govt. edit edit edit. Edit edit edit Betsy Markey edit edit edit.
Edit edit obama edit edit edit edit!!!!! Edit edit edit big brother.
Edit edit edit nanny state edit edit edit edit edit
Nuf said now you no how I feel about it
Edit edit obama edit edit edit edit!!!!! Edit edit edit big brother.
Edit edit edit nanny state edit edit edit edit edit
Nuf said now you no how I feel about it
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