How to Opt Out from the Smart Grid
Reposted from Fox 44
Colchester, Vt. – Right now, power companies such as Green Mountain Power are installing new smart meters on homes around Vermont. But, not everyone is enthusiastic about the change. So, how can you avoid having a smart meter on your home?
The Vermont Department of Public Service’s official stance on smart meters is that you should be able to opt out. In the case of GMP, you must send the company a form stating that you do not want a smart meter. And if for some reason the company has already installed a meter on your house, they will remove it and replace your old one.
“No charge to the customer for that,” GMP representative Dotty Schnure said.
But, opting out could cost you. Power companies want to charge a fee.
“Because what they’re really doing is requesting us to have a personalized meter reading so we will send a meter reader to their home to take a reading,” Schnure said.
The Department of Public Service says that fee cannot be collected by the power companies until all of their smart meters are installed in 2013. That way, companies will have a realistic idea of how much it will cost to manually read meters. The fee must be approved by the Public Service Board.
“We have proposed a 10 dollar monthly fee for that service and that has been approved by the regulators,” Schnure said.
