I recall when I went to work in the electric industry in the late 1970's there was plenty of discussion about cheap electricity. Even as utilities were investing money in the new nuclear plants in the Northwest, WPPSS (whoops) (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955183,00.html & http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5482) the industry thought that power would be so cheap that there may be no need to meter energy used at the home for billing however meters might be used for engineering information.
Today the story is much different, not only is measuring the energy use at the home important to the utility in terms of recovering cost of power we are also headed into the whole new world of "smart grid" technology. As I travel around the Northwest visiting with my good friends and colleagues in the industry I'll be talking about the possibilities and the probabilities of implementing smart systems. The meter is an integral part of the equation that can't be overlooked and decisions being made today may not take into account changes in the future. The good news for utility customers is that flexibility and expandability are being built into the meter platform.
It truly is an exciting time to be in the industry!
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