If you mean the kind they can read from their truck, yes we have them. I think our bills have actually gone down.

I have had problems with my computer, but not the Internet.

We have the Smart Meter and our electric bill is quite a bit higher.
No problem with the Internet.
The meter I have is read electronically from the pole to PG&E.....no reading by truck or person.
I wonder if I could stop the meter by using a magnet....just kidding. I wouldn't do that because it is not being honest.

I have the same set up as Carol. I tracked our bills for the first year but saw little difference between the old ones and the new ones.

I don't worry about the readings anymore but I still don't like them because I think they are "the camel's nose under the tent" of government intrusion. In the future I fear they will try to regulate more and more how and when we use our power. They already do that somewhat with the tiered system.

The Smart Meters here in Canada are supposed to be rated according to the time of day. The usage per kw is lower in the evening and very early morning.

So if people want to do their laundry, run dishwasher, vacuum, etc, 9pm onwards, it's cheaper, and before 7am. The peak hours charge per kw is more money than it was before the smart meters, so a lot of people if not most are now paying more money, when the opposite was preached at us, as being the benefit to having them.

There's a lot of flak about them. Not everyone can or wants to be up all nite, to save money. They are forcing us to.

Plus, if everyone runs their appliances and do chores in off-peak hours, wouldn't those be then "peak" hours??

Last year, when our water, sewer and gas lines were all replaced, the utility company also replaced our gas meters with the electronic ones that can be read from outside the house (our gas meters are in the basement). Our electric meters are still the old ones with the rotating disk, I think (it's outside, on the side of the house that I rarely walk down).

As to the new meter? Dh monitors our bills pretty carefully, and he hasn't said anything, so I'm guessing there's no significant difference in the usage. My computer is in the room directly over the meter (it's maybe 5-6 feet from it?) and no problems with interference. Biggest difference to us? DH no longer has to remember to read the meter and put the reading out on the electric meter. He used to be a meter reader for the gas/electric company, so he always did that as a courtesy to our reader, to save him having to come in. Now he doesn't have to.

One thing--if you ARE noticing an increase in usage after a meter's been changed (even if it's not one of the remote reading ones), old meters do get sluggish over time, and sometimes register lower amounts than is actually being used. So it's not uncommon to notice an 'increase' when a new one is installed. It's not that you're using more, or that the new meter is wrong, but that the OLD one was 'out of whack' so to speak, and you were getting a bit of a break because of it.

If you do have questions, though, about how your meter is working, you can call the company and request that a meter tech come out and check it.

The electric company is just in the process of installing the smart meters in my neighborhood. I am against them because I don't like that someone can measure my electric usage by 15-minute increments. As Wildchild stated, a public entity having that much knowledge of my habits makes me feel like my privacy is being invaded. Also, even though the signal is supposedly encrypted, I'm concerned about the safety of the data. It seems like every data base in the world has been hacked at least once and I know my power company won't have adequate privacy controls.

I keep reading stories about people suffering from tinnitus and headaches, the danger of poorly installed meters exploding or catching on fire, and the RF signal interfering with wireless phones and Internet signals.

Of course, I know that there's always a certain amount of hysteria over any new technology. That's why I wanted to hear from posters here on their experiences. I do appreciate your responses. I think I will try to stay on my old analog meter for as long as possible.

If anyone else has experiences to share, please do post. I'll check back.

Honestly, none of the potential issues you're worrying about have come to pass in our area, and with his job (DH still works for the utility company, with meters) my husband would know if any of those things are happening.

However, we were discussing this post, and there is one issue with the new meters that's become a problem. They run on a battery. The battery is supposed to be good for about 2 years. In some cases, the batteries have failed sooner, in others, the company hasn't been able to get in to change the battery. When the meter shows zero use, the company has been estimating usage--some customers have been getting bills for thousands of dollars because of high estimates!!!

But the radio signal being used is a very weak one--it's only designed to go a few feet. Of all the radio signals we're exposed to every second of every day (radio, satellite tv, cell phones, WiFi, emergency radios, etc, etc, etc), the tiny signal used to send your meter reading 5-20 feet is probably about the weakest of all. As I said, my computer is directly above our gas meter, and ther's been absolutely no difference.

Plus, if everyone runs their appliances and do chores in off-peak hours, wouldn't those be then "peak" hours??
Actually no. Reason is that the peak consumption is still during the daytime hours when businesses are going, offices and office equipment are running, manufacturing equipment is going, air conditioning, heating etc are all used more. That's why they want to shift some of the load to nighttime hours so the power plants aren't burdened so much.

Here, we have the remote read meters but not billed at different times of the day. So far anyway. They even changed our water meters to be read remotely.

The claim that ppl are suffering tinitus or headaches from the meter RF(radio frequency) signal is to say the least, ridiculous.

The maximum output power of the meter signal is under 0.1watts..by contrast your cell phone emits a signal at 0.7watts and that is held right beside your head, yet as was previously established in another post, some ppl are almost embilically attached to those damn cell phones, and they don't seem to suffer any side effects.

I have been an amateur (ham) radio operator for over 35 years and I routinely use a handheld transceiver that has an output power of 7watts, and after 35 years of constant use I have suffered no side effects even though that antenna is right beside my head when transmitting.

Taking it to the next level, that meter transmitter is outside your house and you have a reasonable distance away from it, yet I have base radios right here on the bench beside my computer that transmit up to and including 1500 watts and I have suffered no ill effects with over 35 years of exposure.

I do not have a "smart meter", e.g., one that charges a different rates during a 24 hr period. I do have a meter that is capable of being remotely read. The way ours works is a service truck drives by on the street and the meter is read as the truck passes by and the result stored in an on-board computer. At day's end, the computer file is transferred to the corporate billing. The only time a meter reader walks up to the house is when the meter does not respond, or an improper responce is sent. I think we've had our remote meter for 15 years now. During tht time, the power company has repaired it once.

When we discuss these meters, we should make a distinction between a "remotely read" and "smart, or variable rate charge" meter. There is a 3rd type of smart meter, one that interrupts power for certain periods of the day. This one requires a control box to house the contactors. This may not be a meter, but merely a remotely controlled circuit, typically one for an air conditioner or a large-tank water heater. In one version, the power company agrees to charge a lower rate for all power comsumed if it is allowed to turn off certain circuits during peak use periods. Only one meter is needed for this version.

Thanks Cynic, makes complete sense.

There have been no mention of any health problems associated with our meters......the windmills....that's a whole other story. Lots of supposed headaches and noise (on a lower tone, drone).
I for one would love a windmill.

Smart meter installed a bit over a year ago, began billing using its reports about mid-winter, if I remember correctly.

It checks time-of-day usage, with peak, mid-peak and low levels (and the peak and mid-peak rates interchange from summer to winter). About 6, 9 and 10 cents/kwh. So far, that is ... but the gov't. contracted with some large private agencies to install a lot of solar panels and wind turbines, and the original offers were that they'd be paid 80 cents/kwh. when their generation was added to the grid. Now, in some rural areas, they're delaying allowing those builders to add their power to the grid, as it can't handle it ... or something.

They used to read the meter every three months, with I reporting the reading in the other two if I so chose, or they'd estimate it. The smart meter reports electronically to headquarters, as I understand it. My monthly bill shows the amount of usage per each level, and the price pre kw. on each. As I'm something of a night hawk, the major part of our usage is in the lowest rate, off-peak period.

Last month I received an estimated bill from them ... and it showed no usage on peak or mid-peak times.

When the landlord installed electric service into his shop, they told him that if he had a separate service, there'd be an extra charge of about $40.00/ mo. ...

... so he instructed me to notify him of the amount that he owed me for the shop usage ... and we usually agree on about 10 - 15% (settled up annually).

Power bills seem little altered after the billing was according to the smart meter's reports: just a bit under $100.00/mo., usually - between $1,100. and $1,200. per year, if I remember correctly. We settle landlord's share after year-end.

ole joyful

Thank you for the additional information. Those of you with technical knowledge who responded were especially helpful.

I guess, honestly, I'm most annoyed at the additional information that the power company will have about the way I live. It would be so easy for an unscrupulous employee to tell when a homeowner isn't in residence by the low level of usage. Added to that, I will now have to pay a premium to use electrical devices during the day. It's like adding a tax on staying at home. I already pay higher rates because of the tiered usage system. Obviously, someone who works outside the home uses less electricity than someone who stays at home.

I try to be ecologically responsible by using CFLs, minimizing the number of items plugged in, turning lights off when I leave a room, etc. and I would install solar panels if I could afford them. Sorry, but I get so frustrated by these kinds of events beyond my control. Thanks for letting me vent and thanks again for allaying some of my concerns.

Wildchild! Why do you keep trying to slip in your opinion as a fact?? PG&E is NOT "The Government" and I'm sure you know that. Your fear is displaced.

SJerin! You do realize that the smart grid is used by several utility companies nationwide, don't you? PG&E is just one utility company. FACT is PG&E is NOT in my post.

You seem to assume an awful lot.

FACT is I never mentioned any single utility company in my post. FACT is the PUC is a government agency. FACT is the "smart grid" operates on radio frequencies which are easily hacked.

Fact is government has already intruded on how we use our energy through the banning of light bulbs and telling manufacturers what energy standards their products must meet.

Fact is that the "smart grid" system collects a lot of information that several entities would love to get their hands on and given the desire will go to great lengths to get it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Privacy Concerns

FACT IS: the idea that the government can figure out your lifestyle from the meter is rediculous. The meter can tell how much power you happen to be consuming at any given time, but it cannot tell what device is consuming that power, whether your running the washing machine, a burner on your stove or a space heater in your bedroom while your sound asleep.

FACT IS: the smart meter merely reports your power consumption at and given time for the purposes of billing. It does not record any data that would be passed on to the PUC.

FACT IS: Your cell phone, Ipod,Latop and all other wireless devices also works by radio, and I can assure you, if the government wants to spy on your lifestyle they would gain a lot more information by listening to your phone than worrying about how many watts of energy your using in the middle of the night.

FACT IS; every power company has a base rate per KW for the energy you consume, but with the advent of smart meters they can offer reductions by determining when you use the power. If you consume it during the course of the business day you pay the full rate, but if your consuming power during off peak hours, you get a reduced rate.

While the national average is 11.09cent per KW in my area we pay 13cents during peak hours but only 10.75cents during off peak hours.

Discussed at last year's RSA conference below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smart Meter Vulnerabilities

Wildchild, you live in the same area as I do and use the same electric company, unless you are off the grid. PG&E is a corporation and it is THEY who have forced us to use the "smart" meters. As a society, we are waaaaaaay past the big brother syndrome--anyone can find out most anything about any one of us. It is PG&E who is trying to convince their customers to use the gadgets that monitor and limit specific use. I've read enough of your posts to know which way you lean politically, both here and at Hot Topics, and this is a very political subject.

You are mising the point. The smart grid is not a local issue by a local utilty company. it is a nationwide issue being pushed by the DOE (federal) and it has several security/privacy flaws that need to be addressed.

We can choose to use our cell phones, choose to turn off the GPS, choose not to use open unencrypted wifi connections. We have some encryption abilities with many things we choose to use. But the smart grid is not a choice. We have to depend on others oversight to protect our privacy. I don't have much faith in those "others" caring much about my privacy.

This is not a "tin hat" thing. Nor is it a political party thing. Read the link to the RSA conference. Those are security experts voicing what they found to be weaknesses.