Book Review – Off The Grid
“Where is the debate about the smart grid? Are we just going to believe what GE and EEI tell us? Who can actually prove that the smart grid is going to be all that smart, or that it is even going to work?”And who has thought through all the implications?” These are a few of the questions that author Nick Rosen asks in “Off The Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America.”
This is definitely a set of questions that aren’t often asked in context with the smart grid. More often, there is a disagreement of who is going to pay for the smart grid or whether the smart grid will save consumers money or cost consumers money. However, Rosen has a definite opinion of the smart grid. He writes that privacy will be at risk (utilities will literally be able to ‘see’ into your house with the new technologies) but he also writes that utilities will make billions more in profits with this move.
Rosen explains that based on the track record of utilities, “…the smart grid is not in the country’s best interest nor are they concerned with Secretary Chu’s carbon-reduction targest when they enthuse about rolling out the smart grid. They are concerned with market dominance and profits.”
He continues by anticipating that smart technologies will eliminate the need for meter readers and many call centers, thus reducing the number of jobs in the space while making even more profits (most people estimate that utilities will pass along the costs of developing the smart grid to consumers in the form of higher energy costs).
I must say that while I do not disagree with Rosen as a whole, he does fall into a growing number of Americans who want less government and more individual control. Many of these people who are “anti-government” already live off the grid; however, it is unfair to say that all people who live off the grid are those who are hiding for some reason or other. Many people are looking for ways to become “energy independent” to save money, to have a back-up in case of a major electricity shortage or outage, or to just get-away from technology in general for a while.
For those people who are curious about what living off the grid would be like, or learning how to go “Off The Grid,” this is a very interesting book to read. It is also educational for those who are not convinced that the smart grid is all that smart.
2 Comments
flee
Rosen makes some good points. Smart grid may not live up to the hype. We better be careful and be more skeptical of the technology. Utilities and contractors may be hyping the technology to make themselves a buck. The cost is stratospheric, probably way overpriced for the benefit. Hopefully, we can go slow for a change and utilize taxpayer money responsible. No need to be on the bleeding edge and pay high price tag expense. Let the technology come down in price.
When some on the left hype the benefits of smart grid, I suspect it may be for an alterer motive. Their motivation just may be to make the logistics and cost effectiveness of battery cars and alternative power generation possible. My guess they need this technology for alternative power and battery cars, but not willing to pay for it. Instead they want the current technology to pay the bills to make their desires more cost efficient. That’s a bad idea. That’s some elitist making decisions based on dreams not reality. We need to stop utilizing regulation to bypass cost efficient and effective open market decision making. Markets are smarter than elitist.
Get Real
While the Smart Grid will undoubtedly have its positive and negative implications, this recent concept that the Smart Grid is a left wing conspiracy is ludicrous and ignores the fact that virtually all of its technological development took place during the past decade when the Left had far bigger concerns than the Smart Grid. It’s kind of like saying that the Interstate Highway system was a left wing conspiracy of generations past. Both involve enormous costs that could not be supported by private industry or free markets alone and like the Interstates, I suspect that the Smart Grid will prove to have widespread benefits to both business and regular folks.
Relying on aging infrastructure in a modern world cannot continue indefinitely. Let’s address the real pros and cons involved with bringing the grid into the 21st century in a civilized fashion and try to come up with realistic solutions without fabricating some boogeyman to get everyone to react out of misplaced fear.
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