What's up with the smart-grid 'conspiracy'?

Why is smart-grid technology — smart electricity meters in particular — being met with such opposition, even fear, from some people?

You can’t explain it away by saying opponents are ignorant, uneducated, uninformed or technophobic. While there are probably some people you could call Luddites or worse, the outcry over the prospect of having a more advanced, radio-controlled energy meter installed in one’s home is also coming from lawyers, business owners, accountants and other professionals.

Nor is the opposition confined to tiny, remote communities where things that are “different” typically have a harder time winning acceptance: you can encounter smart-meter skirmishes in places like tech-centric Silicon Valley, urban Vancouver and upper-middle class suburbs like Naperville in Illinois.

While subsets of smart-meter-haters are also anti-cellphone, anti-wi-fi and anti-other-wireless technologies, it’s fair to assume at least some of those involved use iPhones, Bluetooth devices and laptops on the go. So what’s the deal?

Here are a few theories:

• It’s a fundamental of human psychology that change is hard. And the smart grid represents a sea change in how energy will be generated, transmitted, used and paid for. Some people will just need more time than others to wrap their heads around that.
• Mandates are always met with pushback. It’s one thing to decide for yourself that you’re going to go online this afternoon and buy an iPad. It’s an entirely different thing to have someone else — say, a utility company or government authority — tell you that you’re getting a new technology whether you like it or not.
• Mandates delivered with a dash of arrogance or force are even worse. While numerous studies have failed to link radio-frequency communications to measurable or significant health risks, some experts presenting those findings have come off sounding dismissive of skeptics’ concerns. And warning smart-meter opponents that a police escort will usher installers into their homes if they don’t sign up for a non-wireless alternative is heavy-handed, adding fuel to the fire and, sorry, just plain dumb.

Major transitions like the one from a “dumb grid” to a smart one will always encounter some bumps and obstacles along the way. To make the passage as smooth as possible requires understanding not just technology, but people.