Ed- Keep in mind that while most electricity is generated by coal, oil, and gas that does increase the total greenhouse gas content of our atmosphere, the wood that you burn in your stove or fireplace has absorbed carbon out of the atmosphere during the life of the tree. Not so great for urban air quality, and we certainly don’t want to clearcut forests for “renewable power” but wood and trees are a part of the carbon cycle, while digging up coal and burning it is introducing carbon into the air that has not been part of the cycle for millions of years. We’ve seen the kind of future our utilities are leaving us watching Hurricane Sandy.

Good point Ron,
But that may be the PUC code now, but maybe the code will will change in November of this year when the utility (PG&E) is allowed to do a mandatory experiment on customers who have allowed SmartMeters for a two year test of time-variant pricing. Right now, the program is voluntary.
This is just hearsay, but a PG&E employee (who has since been fired) told me that he attended a meeting with PG&E officials where they explained (boasted) how the new time- variant pricing will enable the utility to jack up their electric rates up to $1.00 per kilowatt/hour (or even more) on customers that get suckered into TVP.
There are two prime directives with the SmartMeter-radio SmartGrid project, the first one is to eliminate most of the meter readers ( and those that are left will have to work mandatory overtime) to read all the customers (like myself) that never opted into the SmartMeter program at all.
The second most importand directive is to further enhance profits by a time-variant pricing scheme.
I agree, the $75 one time fee is extortion, and hopefully that will be rescinded eventually, but if a customer does not want to see their rates jacked up during day, I recommend that paying the fee will instantly save most people money starting next month, and hopefully the good activists will prevail in the end and we will get our $75 opt out fee back.
Unfortunately, this a game, a corporate game, and I don’t play games, I am NOT a team player. RESIST !

“Residential customers have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and incur no additional charges as a result of the exercise of that option. Prohibited charges include, but are not limited to, administrative fees for switching away from time-variant pricing, . . .”