Smart Meters: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Electricity - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 116

were not emphasized as much. The tone and emphasis has now shifted to focus on
consumer benefits, but long-term customer savings have not yet been well quantified.
Concern about the breakdown of costs and benefits has resulted in some communities
and regions retreating from initial smart meter installation goals. Germany is the most
prominent example; despite the EU Energy Directive's requirement that 80 percent of
European households have smart metering by 2020, the German Federal Ministry of
Economic Affairs released a report in 2013 concluding that the costs of comprehensive
deployment of smart meters were greater than the potential benefits (Berst 2013 ). The
impact of this report on deployment of smart meters in Germany and beyond is still not
clear, but it does highlight the struggles and controversies affecting deployment in some
locations.
5.4 Rolling Out Smart Meters: Sometimes a Bumpy Ride
Despite some level of resistance due to the reasons detailed here, smart meter rollouts are
progressing rapidly. Current projections estimate that by the end of 2014 close to half of all
households in Europe, the United States, and Canada will have smart meters installed, and
additional installations are planned. Smart meter rollouts have been controversial in some
places, while installations have been smooth inothers. This variation inease ofdeployment
highlights variation in utility-community relationships and level and type of trust among
communities. The remaining sections of this chapter describe smart meter installations
in a few specific regions and communities, including two regions of the United States
(California and Massachusetts) and one country in Europe (Germany). These stories of
smart meter rollout include tales of both appreciative satisfaction and frustrating mistrust,
highlighting the different perspectives and priorities consumers and utilities have with
regard to smart meters. While most consumers may not have particularly strong opinions
one way or another about smart meter technology, there are people at both ends of a
spectrum with deep negative skepticism at one end and passionate positive excitement at
the other end.
Grassroots organization to oppose smart meters has been coordinated through multiple
mechanisms. In the United States a group called Stop Smart Meters! has emerged to
provide coordinated support and knowledge-sharing to local opposition efforts
(Stopsmartmeters.org 2014 ). Smart meter opposition has resulted in some unusual and
unpredictable alliances; both conservative Tea Party members and liberal Occupy
movement members have become involved in Stop Smart Meters!-type campaigns.
Assmart meter technologies arerapidly evolving, maintaining flexibility andintegrating
future adaptability in technology investments poses a persistent challenge for utilities,