BC Hydro failed to notify customers who received new smart meters about how their personal information was being collected and used, B.C.’s privacy watchdog said Monday. via BC Hydro smart meter installs violating privacy: report – British Columbia – CBC News.
privacy
As more people become aware of the benefits of the smart grid, they are also becoming increasingly concerned about data privacy, according to findings from a consumer survey included in Chartwell Inc.’s “Smart Meter Data Privacy” report. via Renew Grid: Content / New & Noteworthy / Utilities Encouraged To Incorporate Smart Grid Data Privacy.
During a recent webcast, The Consumer Side of Smart Grid: Challenges, Opportunities and Concerns, part of the Intelligent Utility Reality Series webcast, Victor Monfort, director of smart grid programs at Jackson Energy Authority (JEA), the municipal power provider for Jacksonville, Florida and the eighth largest in America, said a smarter grid presents many challenges such Continue reading →
On July 28, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a groundbreaking privacy and security rule for Smart Grid energy usage data. The decision and attachments are here and here, respectively. The rule should be a model for other states as well as for federal Smart Grid initiatives. via California Adopts Smart Grid Privacy Rule | Continue reading →
The effort to modernize America’s electric grid is well underway, with nearly $8 billion in federal funding since 2009 and states across the country hastening to deploy everything from electronic smart meters for homes to regional sensors capable of detecting and responding to power outages. But major privacy and security problems for the smart grid Continue reading →
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has adopted the first privacy and security protections for customer data on smart grid electricity networks in the US. The CPUC is requiring utilities to regularly conduct independent security audits of their wireless meters and to restrict the access of third parties, such as energy-efficiency consultants, to customers’ personal Continue reading →
We’ve documented both the divided and the devoted approaches to consumer data privacy in this space and we’ve noted the myriad reasons various ratepayers have given for rejecting smart meters. In looking at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) docket on consumer privacy, data access and cyber security, a pattern emerged that I think Continue reading →
TechNet, the bipartisan policy and political network of technology CEOs that promotes the growth of technology and the innovation economy, today issued the following statement regarding the California Public Utility Commission’s approval of new consumer privacy protection rules applicable to the smart grid systems being implemented by California’s investor-owned utilities. “Modernizing our electrical grid through Continue reading →
Smart grids have intelligent monitoring devices, which frequently transmit the customers’ power usage information to the utility containing information like which appliances were in use, their frequency of usage, time of usage, consumption amount, carbon footprint, heat production etc. These are vital information pertaining to the privacy of the customer that can make them vulnerable Continue reading →
The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) welcomes the introduction of new legislation in the US Senate that would empower electricity consumers to better manage their energy use and reduce their energy bills. Sponsored by Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) and co-sponsored by Scott Brown (R-MA), the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act (S 1029)—or Continue reading →
US Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) reintroduced a bill that would establish consumer rights related to the proliferation of smart grid systems nationwide. According to a statement from Udall’s office, the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act is intended to ensure that people have timely access and control over the information on their electric meters. via Capitol Continue reading →
In no other industry can things change so quickly. With the stroke of a pen, utilities can be saddled with yet-another-mandate. This one requires utilities to give electricity users easier access to their consumption information, with the hope that they’ll use it to more efficiently manage how much energy they use. via Smart Grid: Senators Continue reading →
The California Public Utility Commission came out with a proposed ruling (PDF) earlier this month aimed at clearing up all the questions about who owns and controls data that passes through smart meters, utility back-office platforms and customers’ in-home devices. It also sets out to define who’s responsible for all that data. via How California’s Continue reading →
How should utilities protect their customers’ energy data, while at the same time letting the tech world access that data to find new ways to save energy and help the grid? On Friday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) came out with a long-awaited proposed ruling on the subject that would impose privacy rules on Continue reading →
On March 18, 2011, the Oklahoma State House passed the Electric Utility Data Protection Act (House Bill 1079). The state’s Senate will consider the bill next. The Act seeks to establish standards to govern the use and disclosure of electric utility usage data (including personal information) by electric utilities, customers of electric utilities and third Continue reading →
Sorry to be so tardy in getting a blog post out. As many of you know I’ve been working with the NIST Smart Grid Privacy Subgroup since late June. The work done for this group is through time volunteered by all involved. As a quick recap, I led the privacy impact assessment (PIA) for the Continue reading →
The smart grid is here already in many towns. Along with energy savings, does it mean the end of privacy? And will there even be enough bandwidth to handle a big jump in increased two-way communications? Two new reports from the Department of Energy are aimed at guiding policy on those questions, and more, and keeping Continue reading →
The rollout of smart grid technologies into U.S. homes raises several data privacy issues lawmakers need to recognize and address, a new U.S. Department of Energy report cautions. The concerns over privacy are related to the collection and use of energy consumption data gathered from homes in which the technologies are going to be installed Continue reading →
Privacy is not security, but it’s an equally important an issue to smart grid integrity. And like security, much needs to be worked out to ensure privacy breaches don’t expose consumers to malicious attacks, fraud or other invasive practices. via How Private Is Your Smart Grid Data? – Usman Sindhu – The Conversation – Harvard Continue reading →
Back in 2007, when the Dutch government announced that all 7 million homes in the Netherlands would be equipped with smart meters by 2013, it anticipated little resistance. After all, who wouldn’t welcome a device that could save both energy and money? But consumers worried that such intelligent monitoring devices, which transmit power-usage information to Continue reading →
