Starting this year, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is planning to replace every power meter in their territory with a new, remotely controlled power meter. According to sfgate.com, the new meter is actually a node on a vast new powerline network called Advanced Metering Infrastructure. This PDF file explains some of features of the new powerline network, including realtime web monitoring of your power usage, dynamic billing cycles (instead of fixed monthly rates), and data communication over power lines. Most interesting to me, it may also include a local LAN ![[WikiPedia]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
port that allows end users to connect and regulate thermostats and high-energy usage appliances.
