Independence board rejects resolution calling for analog AMI opt-out; staff continues AMI vendor selection and public outreach

The Independence Power & Light Board voted against a resolution that would have directed the utility to offer an analog opt-out option for an AMI rollout, following an extended discussion of technical feasibility, meter-reading logistics and possible costs.

Board members and IPL staff spent more than an hour discussing how an opt-out could work, including whether an ‘‘analog’’ meter is still available, whether the same digital meter could be installed and have radio capability disabled, and how meters would be read for customers who opt out. IPL staff told the board that older mechanical ‘‘analog’’ meters are no longer broadly produced, and that a practical opt-out approach is to install one digital meter and enable or disable its communications function for customers who choose to opt out.

Why it matters: the resolution sought to commit the board to supporting an analog opt-out, a position some board members said would reassure residents concerned about radio-frequency…