The Democratization of the 230v Control Console of NZ Dwellings.
(How to re-enfranchise New Zealanders, modernize community grids and enable citizens to use their electrical potential in the most sustainable ways.)
Key ideas
* We have a vast, wonderful solar-electrical potential.
* Burning fossilized biomass as we do is needless, wasteful and polluting i.e. evil.
* Our electrical grids are feudal, antiquated and unsustainable.
*The main electrical meter in our dwelling is now plain stupid. New Zealand law dictates that I must buy the meter and pay for its
installment in order to remain connected to my local grid. However it is owned and controlled by a retailer that I buy a few electrical products from. This private corporation dictates the design and use of the meter.
The law states the information in the device is the property of that corporation. I have no rights of ownership that information. I cannot use the device to broadcast information to whom I like. I have no idea of what information it collects or what that private corporation does with my information.
I cannot use the device to promote wise uses of our local solar-electrical potential. I cannot use the device to buy electrical products off another retailer or seek informed retail advice. The device does not permit me to use my house’s grid or my local grid in an intelligent way. It is only capable of a one-way conversation and so it is dumb.
Proposal:
Legislate the right of New Zealand citizens to own the 230 volt electrical meters of their dwellings again.
Conditions:
The meters must be MARIA compliant in terms of accuracy and safety.
Necessary billing information must be provided in timely manner to retailers of products.
Ownership may take the form of democratic cooperatives confined to the area of the regional grid.
Objectives:
Enhance the state of science in our communities.
Enfranchisement of citizens.
Provide individual privacy rights.
Legalize the sustainable use of resources i.e. “energy efficiency practice”.
Enable innovation.
Enhance community resilience (local Civil Protection/Defense systems)
Definition of Dwelling 230v Control Console
console: a flat surface that contains the controls for a machine, for a piece of electrical equipment, etc. (Merriam -Webster dictionary)
Electrical products are supplied to New Zealand homes at 230 volts and 50 Hertz.
The 230 volt control console is commonly known as the main switch board, the power board, the meter board, the energy meter, the meter box or the mains control.
All these descriptions are unhelpful for a range of reasons. In particular, they fail to reflect the fact that the 230 volt wiring grid in a dwelling is primarily an information system. The design of the control console determines the quality of information of the grid and how it can be used. This in turn is a major determinant in the siting, design and use of the dwelling plus the design and use of a wide range appliances used in the dwelling.
In brief it is a significant determinant of our lifestyle
Currently most dwelling grids are interconnected with their local regional grid, which in turn is so interconnected with Transpower, the nation-wide electrical grid of New Zealand.
In this situation the 230 volt control console of a dwelling can usefully be described as the interface of the individual’s private information system with the public information system. Much of this information is both valuable and intimate. Thus the question of ownership of this information has profound civic implications for us all. It goes to the heart of whether New Zealand is a functioning democracy or not.
The evolution of this information system occurred over five broad periods since the 1890s:
1890 – 1910s: the Advent of Reticulated Electrical Products
1910 – 1950s: a National Network of community-owned grids
1950s – early 1980s: the Grids become Telecommunications Systems (PLC)
1980s The Grand Confluence of Technological Innovation (Solid State and Optic Fibre)
1990s -2011 The Great Dumb-Down -Community Information is Fragmented and Privatized
Our Future: a Great Solar-Electrical Future
Each period can be understood as a unique combination of
Technology,
Information,
Civics,
Common Perception of 230v Control Console
and Health/ecology
Our Future
It is arguable that our Anglo-American culture has evolved this last three centuries in ways that have generated a dangerous Anthropocene that puts all humankind at peril. All the New Zealand agencies that are supposed to protect our interests are fatally flawed – see below a list of incapacitated, confounded or hostile Citizen Protection agencies. So it is up to you and me to form local democratic community councils and regain control of our local solar-electrical potential.
NZ Privacy Commissioner –unhelpful (Governing framework is too narrow and exclusive.)
NZ Electricity Authority – hopeless (Its language and legislation are designed to sustain the current feudal regime.)
Commerce Commission – hopeless (Its language and legislation are designed to sustain the current feudal regime.)
Consumer NA and Citizen Advice Bureau – hopeless (See PowerSwitch etc)
NZ Parliament – hopeless (See Electricity Industry Reform legislation, ETS and delusional notions of energy in general.)
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority – hopeless (Founded in delusional notions of energy.)
NZ Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment – unhelpful (See support for ETS and exclusive notions of the environment.)
Universities – unhelpful, if not hopeless. (Founded in copyright and the commodification of information in general.)
Remember: together we can enjoy and bequeath on our children true democracy and a Great Solar-Electrical Future.