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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 27,
2009

Contact: Michael Kaplowitz
 | Kaplowitz@westchesterlegislators.com
| (914) 924-3404

Kaplowitz’ Thinking “outside the grid”
Reaps Presidential Push

President
Obama Announces $3 billion in grant money for residential smart meters

(Somers, NY)
~ Over the
past 5 years Westchester County Legislator and Vice-Chairman of the Board Michael Kaplowitz (D, I – Somers) has
repeatedly lobbied for smart meters on behalf of residential ratepayers –
including at the state level in Albany and before the New York City Council, an
initiative today reinforced by President Obama in a press conference where the
President announced $3 billion in grant funding for residential smart meter
installation.

“‘Smart meters’
offer consumers the ‘three E’s; economic advantage, environmental
benefit and energy efficiency,” Kaplowitz said. “Imagine
there’s a gas station where it normally costs $4.00 per gallon but if you
go after 11 PM, it’s only $2.00 per gallon. Wouldn’t you want the
option to go out at 11 PM to save money on a commodity you use so much of?
It’s all about providing the rate payers with a choice.”  Kaplowitz,
a certified financial planner and immediate past chair of the
legislature’s Budget & Appropriations Committee, continued by saying
this will also create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

According to Kaplowitz, technology
known as ‘smart meters’ has been available, although residential
consumers have not been able to elect to have a ‘smart meter’
installed in their homes. “Smart Meters” are home energy monitoring
systems that enable ratepayers to see their “real time usage” along
with the corresponding “real time prices” in 15-minute intervals.
Smart meters also have the ability, in the event of an outage, to automatically
notify the power company of a power outage without the consumer having to
report it.  “Consumers deserve choice. Individual home energy meters
and real-time pricing would not only provide ratepayers with a choice, but
would revolutionize electricity consumption by saving consumers real dollars
and conserving energy, which, in turn, contributes to a cleaner
environment.”

In October 2005, Kaplowitz, the immediate
past chair of the Environment & Energy Committee, led the County Board
in calling on the Public Service Commission to permit residential “smart
meters,” enabling consumers to take advantage of “real time
pricing.”  “Under the current system you pay an average of the
various prices of a watt for each of the 24 hours.  What we want is to
have consumers benefit from the lower, off-peak rates that keep that average
down during the day and have the information available to them so they can make
choices when the rates are high.  That’s the benefit of RTP,”
Kaplowitz said.

# # #

Additional
news available at www.westchesterlegislators.com/mediacenter

_______________________________________

Tara L. Martin, Press Secretary

Westchester County
Board of Legislators
148 Martine
Avenue, 8th Floor
White Plains, NY  10601

Ofc: (914)
995-2016                

Fax: (914) 995-3884

Cell: (914) 380-0931

Email: TaraM@westchesterlegislators.com

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