Not advertised: the utility can replace fast-response generators like natural gas with slower response generators like coal, because they don't need as much fast response generation capacity to deal with their now smaller peaks. Of course, coal has a bigger carbon footprint than gas. Too bad.
Wow. So much wrong. It's hard to know where to start. The output of a coal plant does not vary over the course of the day -- and no amount of smart meter activity is going to change this.
Electric markets dispatch on a least-cost basis; that is, they turn on the cheapest power plants first, and the next most expensive next, etc. A picture is worth a thousand words in this case. Here you can find a typical dispatch stack -- with nuclear on the bottom, coal just above that, natural gas combined cycles above that, peaking natural gas turbines above that, and other technologies like fuel oil and karosene above that. http://www.treepower.org/outreach/stackdispatch.jpeg. (By the way, wind, hydro and solar would be down there by the nuclear, but don't change this analysis.)
The key point that the AC misses, is that the energy usage on any given day fluctuates between the high priced and low priced natural gas plants; in utility parlance, a natural gas unit is the "marginal unit" on the system. Every once and a rare while, the system will run out of natural gas, and have to move up the price stack and dispatch fuel oil -- but that is rare. Likewise, every once in a great while, load will be so low that coal dispatches are decreased.
In short: no amount of smart meter activity is going to decrease (or increase) the amount of power coming from a coal plant. That would imply that someone had an underutilized coal plant just sitting around.... Just doesn't work that way. (Even that ignores the fact that coal plants aren't designed to move up and down; doing so creates a host of technical problems with the plant.)
The second bit of moronity:
One. Advertised: if the utility company is having trouble delivering the demanded power, they can reduce the voltage a little bit and buy/generate a little bit less (expensive) peak power. Your lights will burn a little less brightly, but you probably won't notice.Not advertised: if the utility company is having trouble making money or needs a place to sink their spinning reserves during off-peak demand, they can use SG to raise the delivered voltage to end customers. Your lights will burn a little brighter, but you probably won't notice. It will also cost you a little bit more. Too bad.
This is half true -- but has nothing to do with smart meters. Yes, the operator of the electric grid will fool with the voltage to avoid a cascading failure of the transmission system. Voltage stability, by law, is kept within extremely tight tolerances. During times of over- or under-generation, the voltage may flicker slightly. However, any serious deviation represents a threat to system reliability -- which is paramount to grid operators -- and is simply not allowed. Again, nothing to do with smart meters.
