Santa Clara residents won't have to head to Starbucks to grab free Wi-Fi anymore, thanks to wireless and digital "smart meters" that wil provide free, citywide Wi-Fi according to reports.

John Roukema, the director of Silicon Valley Power, said "This is just one of the major benefits our community will enjoy as a result of our advanced metering technology. Now our residents, visitors and local workforce can get Internet access while waiting for a train, shopping downtown, getting their car washed or relaxing in their yard."

These meters provide electricity and water usage reports via a wireless network and give residents free internet, but also raise privacy issues.

Sascha Meinrath, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Open Technology Institute, said the meters will require top of the line privacy protections: "If they do privacy right, residents have nothing to do but rejoice. If they don't, you could see some serious malfeasance down the road."

While Santa Clara is set to be the only city with total public Wi-Fi access, other areas of the country have well-connected communities. In Chelsea, New York, where Google has a campus, they have established free Wi-Fi for the entire neighborhood.

Zach Leverenz, the CEO of Connect2Compete, an organization that helps "Americans access technology through three exciting offers: free digital literacy training, discounted high-speed Internet, and low-cost computers," according to its website, has partnered with the FCC in a program called "Everyone On."

"Being online is no longer the luxury that we once considered it to be. It's essential. Society at large requires an internet connection," Leverenz said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski echoed Leverenz' feelings, saying "The costs of digital exclusion - of not having access to Internet at home - are rising every day. Offline Americans are missing out on opportunities in education, health care, and employment."

According to Everyoneon.org, one out of every five Americans do not have the internet in their home.