I was afraid this was going to be some scam where they got into your house under false pretenses. Sounds legit, and possibly serious!

I wouldn't let anyone in my house I didn't know and my big dog gets to the door as soon as I open it.

I think I would call and ask lots of questions. I am going to ask my power co. about that as they are about to update to smart meters, and are having meetings about them.

A meter is a meter, the date thing is just a coincidence. How old is the house? What's the condition of the wiring, maybe there's a short? If it happens again I think your call should go to an electrician to check your service box and wiring, not to the power company.

We've had smart meters for a few years and never had one overheat or malfunction in any way. Can the electric company shed any light on what causes them to overheat?

In Jan, 2015 there were over 5,000 Smart meters recalled across the province because of overheating. It appears to be a real thing.

I think if it were me, I’d want a response with a little more depth to it. I would call the utility company to advise of the conincidence and get some answers that actually satisfy my concerns.

Thanks Jasdip, one more question to ask about.

Elmer, I know it is just a coincidence but what are the chances, it struck me as funny that the meter had to be replaced on the same date. I did ask questions the first time and the second time and I was told they didn't know why the meter malfunctioned and overheated. Of course, the answer isn't good enough so I have been reading online. The technician who came to the house said if I encountered a problem with my electricity not to call an electrician but to call the Utility first. My house was built in 1946. I know in the 1980's the wiring was brought up to code and a new breaker box installed.

What are the chances? Maybe not as low as might be expected.

My response was generic, cherry, but as per usual there's more to know as you and jasdip have added.

It sounds like your electricity provider is having real trouble with new meters, I wonder if they bought low quality equipment? Mine did the switchover to smart metering some time ago (5 years?) and it's been smooth sailing.

30 year old wiring should be okay if the work was properly done and inspected. I was thinking you were one of the people who had had flooding problems (which can effect wiring) but maybe that was someone else or maybe no part of your wiring got wet.

I did have major flooding but my electrical outlets are ceiling level but the washer and dryer did get wet. I have only been down my basement twice since the flooding, I think maybe I should unplug the washer and dryer since I am not using them.

Most likely a coincidence of an electronic part failing, which happens every day to every utility company.

Now, if he arrived on the same day, same time, then play those numbers in your Canada lottery. :)

Depending on how much snap the company has, they may have had a glitch and are now answering last year's calls.

Ordinary, old fashioned electric meters were all electro-mechanical affairs and the only heat generated was from the amount of electrical current passing through the meter resistance. A good meter has very little resistance, therefore, there was very little heat produced. The heat production was so low that designers could practically ignore it.

Now comes the day when we eliminate the walking meter reader and retrofit the meter case with one having a pile of electronics and thense added a source of heat and additional failure. In my neighborhood, our meters are read by 'drive-by' whereby the meter reader drives by and interrogates the meter remotely. The results are automatically recorded on a lap top computer in the vehicle - no more pencil and paper recording. In more sophisticated systems, the meter reports to the home office and there is no drive-by.

A common failure is something burns out on an electronics board and the meter fails completely or is reporting flaky results.