I realize that Virginia's "re-regulation" legislation gives our utilities unprecedented and so far, unmatched guarantees of return. While a lot of consumers are interested in and able to buy new thermostats, etc. there are also many who cannot afford to pay the increased cost of the grid, much less for the tools they will need to take advantage of it. (In Virginia, we have only a voluntary customer contribution based safety net for energy customers.)

Since smart meters will give utilities new tools that will make it much easier to disconnect service for non-payment, etc., there's a lot of benefit for the utility. We seem to have put into place a system where we no longer expect anything from utilities for the priviledge of having the monopoly and we assume that everything that is done is done with rate payer dollars - but we're paying a premium for them to take little or now risk.

In other words, balance has been lost and we are fast moving to a place where in many Virginia communities consumers truly will not have the income base to afford a basic necessity of life.