Iowa Consumer Advocate, Mark Schuling is opposing Alliant Energy’s smart meter rollout at an Iowa Utility Board hearing Nov. 5 in Des Moines. Attorneys General and state utility boards around the country have opposed smart meters due to many studies showing no cost benefit. Smart meters average millions of dollars more every year that would come from customer rate hikes.

Smart meters cost about six times more than current analog meters, with one third the lifetime, plus the multimillion dollar initial expense to replace 481,000 working analog meters.

Studies show that the faster outage reporting Alliant claims doesn’t result in faster service restoration.

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has warned about serious dangers to America’s security from the smart grid and smart meters. So has former CIA Director James Woolsey calling the smart grids “stupid” on national TV (along with many other cyber security experts and institutions).

The ACLU and many others oppose smart meters for privacy violation. A $2.2 trillion/year data market is expected, with utility companies making even more profits from selling detailed customer personal lifestyle data, Alliant says it will not sell data, but Alliant reps repeat, “We may change any policy at any time without notice.”

Although Alliant’s planned opt out meter has been proven acceptable for health, Alliant’s proposed opt out proposal has multiple severe requirements.

Oppose Alliant’s smart meters by emailing customer@iub.iowa.gov or use IUB’s form:

https://iub.iowa.gov/consumers/complaints-about-utility/online-complaint-form