Arizona Public Service Co., Salt River Project and the other utilities across the country that rely on smart meters as an alternative to sending employees to collect numbers say they are a safe, efficient way to measure customers’ usage. They say the radio frequencies used to send short signals back to the utility are harmless and the devices are accurate.
There is, however, a backlash of 19,000 customers in APS territory who have refused to allow the company to install the meters, reports Ryan Randazzo of The Arizona Republic.
The company plans to charge those customers for the meter readers needed to check their usage, but that is on hold until the Arizona Department of Health Services concludes a review of the meters’ safety this year.
APS in 2006 began phasing out analog meters and replacing them with digital meters.
The meters not only cut back on service vehicles driving around to check meters, but they allow customers to use time-of-use rates to save money and have their power turned on or off remotely.
moves to replace analog meters with smart meters, began to organize against their use.
In 2011, the Arizona Corporation Commission opened an investigation into the safety of smart meters.
Utilities, including APS, have said the meters don’t measure anything more detailed than how much electricity is being used, though some consumers are concerned that analyzing that information could reveal which electronics are used.
Johan Fantenberg / Flickr
