# Homeowner Pulls Gun on Utility Worker **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285 "2012-07-24T21:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/21 "2012-07-24T23:50:17Z")
So that actually works and nobody gets in trouble? You can pull a gun on a worker and instead of getting arrested, you get what you want? That’s just so weird. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/22 "2012-07-25T00:31:05Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Its not that the meters transmit wirelessly (they’ve been doing that for a while), it’s that they track & report continuous usage data over time, instead of just usage totals. That way they can bill you different rates for different times of day - e.g. you pay more for power you use during peak hours. Well, not precisely “continuous”. The usage data is usually collected in 15-minute chunks, from what I’ve seen. That’s enough to allow time-of-day billing, though the companies I’ve talked to about the matter are not planning to do so for residential service in the near future. They’re mostly looking at commercial/industrial sites, where shifting the load can make a bigger difference in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/23 "2012-07-25T00:34:32Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Fuck that. I would have cut her at the pole and left the drop lying on her precious property. If you don’t want to be on the grid lady you don’t have to be, then you need not worry about anyone monitoring your electrical use. My hero! That’s exactly what should have happened. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/24 "2012-07-25T00:38:49Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Well, not precisely “continuous”. The usage data is usually collected in 15-minute chunks, from what I’ve seen. That’s enough to allow time-of-day billing, though the companies I’ve talked to about the matter are not planning to do so for residential service in the near future. They’re mostly looking at commercial/industrial sites, where shifting the load can make a bigger difference in the short term. My local electric company just started offering time-of-day rates this year to residential customers. I was looking into it, and searching on the web for info, when I found the craziness instead. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/25 "2012-07-25T00:51:25Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > My local electric company just started offering time-of-day rates this year to residential customers. I was looking into it, and searching on the web for info, when I found the craziness instead. I’m told Smart Grid implementation is substantially farther ahead up north, so the companies in your area are probably ready to make more use of it. Deployment is still pretty bogged down here, with only a few of the bigger providers pushing it…and they have some rather daft ideas of what to do with it. (Mine thinks it’s a grand idea to try to get people to let them put thermostats with remote overrides in their houses, so the power company can turn the AC off for you…during a Texas summer.) ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/26 "2012-07-25T01:04:05Z")
This should be easily rectified, with a little common sense. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/27 "2012-07-25T01:31:45Z")
This is the problem with disputes over meters. No one ever takes a measured response. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/28 "2012-07-25T01:36:21Z")
> [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](#): > > This should be easily rectified, with a little common sense. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What a revolting story. > [@Telemark](#): > > On the contrary, she’s part of the resistance. This is my rant, not a place for your juvenile humor. Stop it now, I mean it! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/29 "2012-07-25T01:41:11Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > This is my rant, not a place for your juvenile humor. > Stop it now, I mean it! You’d be quite delighted if we do, wouldn’t you? What did you expect, you’re ranting about a current event. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/30 "2012-07-25T01:57:06Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > This is my rant, not a place for your juvenile humor. > > Stop it now, I mean it! I apologize. I thought you would get a charge out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/31 "2012-07-25T02:06:43Z")
I’ve been thinking about this all night. Why hasn’t this woman been arrested? It’s making me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/32 "2012-07-25T02:08:41Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I’ve been thinking about this all night. > > Why hasn’t this woman been arrested? > > It’s making me crazy! It’s Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/33 "2012-07-25T02:15:43Z")
There’s no execuse for pulling a gun on the utility worker, but I would have been upset too. There’s no reason to install a meter that collects time of day data unless the intent is to gouge us for daring to turn on an incandescent bulb or an air conditioner during the day. Up here XCEL energy has meters that transmit month end usage data but not anything more detailed. Also of note, Centerpoint Engergy had a “tiered” rate structure where people that used more gas paid more. It was rigged so virtually no one fell in the lowest tier- I didn’t and I heat a 1100 ft square home to 72 degrees, so it wasn’t just the people in Mcmansions. They were forced to drop it by public outcry. (You know you’ve lived in Minnesota a long time when you think “NSP and Minnegasco (and Northwestern Bell).” ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/34 "2012-07-25T02:15:55Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Stop it now, I mean it! Would anybody like a peanut? ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/35 "2012-07-25T02:53:56Z")
They are installing smart meters here in Vermont, and I don’t want one. Luckily, my meter is inside my locked garage. So no need for a gun, just a key. Oh wait, we can opt out here, and the legislature passed a law that we can keep our our old meter and we cannot be charged an extra monthly fee for having a human come and read our meter. The electric company was trying to charge $10 a month to keep the old meters. I guess she should move to Vermont. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/36 "2012-07-25T03:01:57Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > This is my rant, not a place for your juvenile humor. > > Stop it now, I mean it! You need to unplug from the computer a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/37 "2012-07-25T03:02:52Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Would anybody like a peanut? Win. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/38 "2012-07-25T03:16:18Z")
I wonder what the local circuit Judge thought about this? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/39 "2012-07-25T03:41:22Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > It’s Texas. The crazy is regrettably thick on the ground here. > [@Mdcastleman](#): > > There’s no reason to install a meter that collects time of day data unless the intent is to gouge us for daring to turn on an incandescent bulb or an air conditioner during the day. Actually, there is a good reason to do it, though it does involve time-of-day tariffs. Peak loads are expensive; the company has to be prepared for them, so they have to spend a lot of money on generating capacity that goes unused most of the time, and they have to beef up their infrastructure to carry the load. Transmission efficiency also drops slightly with heavy loads, which results in wasted energy. When the load conditions get really bad, you get brownouts, which are no good for anyone. This stuff drives up the company’s costs…which they pass along to you. With time-of-day rates, they can encourage people to shift some of their heavy-load activities–like running extra appliances like dishwashers and such that only need to be run once a day–to off-peak hours. If they get enough people to make small changes in their habits, they can reduce their peak load requirements. Lowering the peak saves them money, so it’s worth it to them to offer discounts in off-peak hours. (And before you say that the company will never do that–at least one company here in Texas is already offering discounts, and even free usage at night for exactly this reason.) The can also use the data to show you how much energy you’re using and when, so that you can tell what activities are driving up your bill, which can potentially save you money directly. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285/40 "2012-07-25T04:13:56Z")
I’m going to move this over to MPSIMS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowner-pulls-gun-on-utility-worker/629285.md?page=3)