Well, the 'Smart meter' ain't so smart. I've been reading my own meter and reporting to Kit Carson Coop because I've been having some real 'spiky' electric bills. I also read and record the daily usage. A dozen days ago, that meter recorded 1018 KWH for one day! Now I'm trying to deal with the bureaucratic numbnuts and get the bill corrected and the meter replaced. Can you believe they want to add an additional $20+ to my monthly bill for a new meter.
I want and demand an analog meter but we shall see. Read this if you think these 'wonderful' electronic meters are any good.
Smart meter
'Smart meters'?
- Thread starter pkunk
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No, they aren't worth a hoot to me. I can get a analog meter at $5 more per month. So far the bills have been equal too or a tad lower than last year.
Stay away from smart meters. You're welcome.
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- May 28, 2014
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They sent us a letter regarding this and if we wanted one installed. If we decided not to, they were planning to add 5$ to the electric bill.
I'm not trusting this new technology.
Didn't have a choice. They came and installed them one afternoon. Didn't see any difference afterwards with my bill. Still runs about the same depending on outside temp and if the wife decides to run the oven all afternoon in the summertime. 
I haven't heard of these new "smart meters", however from the sounds of it I'd be more than happy to pay a $5 a month surcharge to keep my current analog meter if it keeps my bill reliable and legitimate. I've been much more watchful of my energy usage ever since buying my Volt, and I've established a pretty good idea of what my electric bill will be every month. If I had a "smart meter" and noticed a 1,000 kWh charge for one DAY I would lose my mind. For reverence, last month (May) I used 809 kWh TOTAL. That includes running 3 window air units, normal usage, and charging an electric car every night. 3 people living in the house.
Sometimes, new tech just doesn't help.
The utility installed a smart meter , maybe 6 months ago . As far as I know , no impact with us .
We have had a smart meter for three years or more. No issues. Saves me from getting weird estimated bills when they did not come out to read the meter.
Smart meter here and power usage has remained consistent.
I think I would know (I install them for a living)
The meter itself is nothing to fear, eventually you won't have a choice
I was (kinda still am) the meter reader, it's not a job I'd cry over losing to automation
Any backhanded rate/tariff/plan changes that come along with it, that's where you need to check the fine print
If you want to whine to someone, call your states PSC and see what they'll do for you
A good chunk of the sudden changes in bills when a new meter is put in boils down to your old meter was just that.... Old
They can slow down/speed up with age
You wouldn't tolerate a fast meter, why should the utility tolerate a slow one?
Also, take a meter we haven't seen in 5+ years, we've been estimating so long, who knows how it'll true up when the meter gets swapped, you balk at the next months bill and blame the meter
I've noticed parallels between people against smart meters and people that are against whatever G we're up to this decade
Or people that complain, turns out they've had AMR since the early 90s and didn't know
I could go on 
I assume the smart meter is just one that can be read remotely by their central office? The power usage being reported should not change. Always seemed silly in this day and age to have a little man in his truck stop at each house on a monthly basis to read the meter.
I had one of those slow old meters, I knew my bill was way too small, but was not going to complain.In 20 years I upgraded insulation and got a very efficient heat pump but despite the rate increasing over 2X my monthly bill only increased about 10% in 20 years.
Then I got the new meter. Now the energy efficiency still paid off, but the bill went up about 25%
Rod
The smart meter isn't a bid deal just for reading the amount of electricity you've used. And typically, when you get a spike in use when one is installed, its because your old analog meter was reading low / or was sticking. Ours was reading low, and eventually erratically, and the power company came out to investigate. Replaced the meter, and all has been fine for years since...
As others have said, its when the power company wants to start charging different rates for different times of the day, etc... is where the smart meter can become an issue. None of those games here (yet).
Originally Posted by michaelluscher
I've noticed parallels between people against smart meters and people that are against whatever G we're up to this decade
Or people that complain, turns out they've had AMR since the early 90s and didn't know
I could go on
Originally Posted by ctechbob
Didn't have a choice. They came and installed them one afternoon. Didn't see any difference afterwards with my bill. Still runs about the same depending on outside temp and if the wife decides to run the oven all afternoon in the summertime.
Originally Posted by Donald
I assume the smart meter is just one that can be read remotely by their central office? The power usage being reported should not change. Always seemed silly in this day and age to have a little man in his truck stop at each house on a monthly basis to read the meter.
I would not have thought you had a choice. Either a new smart meter or no meter.
Turn off everything, and you will find your meter is reading zero. Plug a three watt adapter in, and you will see three watts on the smart meter. Now go to your article and read down where he claims the meter is using power, a lot, and you are paying for it. That's not true. You can pay the $20 to have someone read your analog meter every month, it's your option.