Last night my son asked me how the electric companies read our meter. He said they were discussing it in class and wonder why with today's technology does someone come out and read the meter and when do they do it because he has never seen it done? I had to explain to him it's because of union contracts they have to use labor to do it instead of technology. I explained to him it results in higher electric bills and wasted energy since someone has to drive around in a pick up truck all day long and waste gas.
His response, that is pretty stupid. I say give that boy an "A"!!!!!!!
__________________
John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Not to take a side in terms of pro versus non-union, but lots of people try to tamper with their meters to avoid paying higher bills. It generally takes onsite visits toinsure thatsuch tamperingdoesnt occur. So, there is a certain logic to having boots on the ground. Dunno if the money saved by preventing tampering equals that paid for having all those live bodies being payed union scale though.
__________________
"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Lanse is correct, it is very easy to steal electricity. You could have any given private home steal thousands of dollars per day. That is why they go out and visually inspect for any tampering. I would give your son an unbiased "C" instead of an "A". He should follow-up a bit more on a subject before coming to conclusions, but hey, we all know that apples don't fall too far from the tree!
The tampering part isn't actually true anymore. Old style meters were very easy to tamper with. You only needed to flip them upside down and they would run backwards. However, the new meters are tamper proof and you will get busted should you attempt to do anything to them. Just like the modern cable boxes. Open yours up and see if it works again.
Congrats Griswold, your rates may not have seemed to gone down but they ceretainly haven't raised like they would have.
__________________
John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Have you ever had your meter read wrong? A guy made a 1000 kwh mistake on ours. Costumer service couldn't fix it. We had to pay, and get credited on our next several bills. Stupid.
I think that lots of folks still have old style meters, at least i do. Considering how innovative people can get in terms of stealing electricity, cable TV, etc. I dunno how "tamper proof" i would consider anything to be.
__________________
"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
I think that lots of folks still have old style meters, at least i do. Considering how innovative people can get in terms of stealing electricity, cable TV, etc. I dunno how "tamper proof" i would consider anything to be.
All new ones going in today are digital and it would still save thousands to remove and replace the old ones. This ranks right up there with the last walk out of the longshoremen strike. Much of that was objecting to the manual reading of each containers in and out of the loading docks. The union refused to allow modern scaners to replace workers that would speed up the process and lower shipping costs. They were anti technology. However, in the middle of the meeting, someone did bring in a remote control fart machine and mount it under the table. It's good to know the union isn't completely anti technology.
__________________
John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
We have a dog and keep our gate shut thus preventing the guy to check our meter, and resulting in an estimate of how much electricity we use. To avoid a high estimation we could put a card in our window with the reading and then they would only have to come in once a year to physically check it, and make sure we gave accurate accounts.
There is a bonus however to having someone come once a month. If your meter is broken they will report it, and save you hundreds on your electric bill.
I say that you should encourage your son to call the company himself and ask them to explain it. I think it would be a good learning experience and it never hurts to hear it straight from the horses mouth.
Union question?
