Venable partners Stu Ingis and Dick Powers were quoted in a September 8, 2011 Law360 article on California's new smart grid technology which gives consumers added control over how real time data about power consumption is used by utility companies.
Commenting on the application of fair information practice principles to the new technology, Ingis said, "Having such proscriptive rules before knowing what impact this technology will have on privacy in reality could be inhibiting to the industry and seems to be a solution in search of a problem… An appropriate standard that makes sense for a media company isn't necessarily what makes sense for a smart grid provider."
Adding that California rules could give customers too much control over their energy consumption data, Powers said, "These rules could limit the flow of information and create a system that could stifle what the real goal of the smart meter and smart grid program is."
Commenting on the application of fair information practice principles to the new technology, Ingis said, "Having such proscriptive rules before knowing what impact this technology will have on privacy in reality could be inhibiting to the industry and seems to be a solution in search of a problem… An appropriate standard that makes sense for a media company isn't necessarily what makes sense for a smart grid provider."
Adding that California rules could give customers too much control over their energy consumption data, Powers said, "These rules could limit the flow of information and create a system that could stifle what the real goal of the smart meter and smart grid program is."