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Holden council approves smart-meter system amid privacy and opt-out concerns
Summary
The Holden Town Council voted to accept a combined electric/water smart-meter system after debate over cost, privacy and whether customers may opt out. Council members cited a discounted per-meter price and integration benefits; some residents called the change intrusive.
Holden Town Council voted Sept. 10 to accept a smart-meter system for the town’s electric and water services after a lengthy discussion about cost, privacy and implementation.
The council heard that the town negotiated a heavy-volume discount on meters and will pay about $1.95 per meter instead of the $3.20–$3.40 range typical on the market. "We're getting them at $1.95," said Speaker 7 during the pricing discussion. A town representative later summarized the total system price: "So the total price is $2,077,000," (Speaker 2).
Supporters said the new system will provide 15-minute interval reads, allow remote shutoffs and integrate with the town’s billing software to eliminate much of the current manual work. Speaker 7 described operational benefits: the meters will alert staff to outages, allow customers to view daily and hourly usage through a web interface, and enable more consistent monthly read dates.
Several residents and council members raised privacy and opt-out concerns. One attendee said the meters could be used for granular household monitoring and asked whether residents may decline installation. Council members responded that peer towns typically do not offer an opt-out and that not adopting the system risks losing current purchase discounts. As one participant framed the trade-off, the negotiated discount “is one of the compelling things to do it now” (Speaker 8).
Council members also discussed future rate design changes such as time-of-day or demand charges and said the smart-meter data would support any necessary billing transitions. The town intends to retain a small stock of spare meters for rapid replacement; water meters noted a roughly 10-year internal battery life that then requires meter replacement rather than battery swap.
The council voted to accept the Eaton system; roll call recorded affirmative responses from Marie Stevenson, Tamara Dallen, David Wood, Bill Botcock and Mayor Fox. Implementation steps discussed included ordering initial units, integration with billing, and scheduling installations. Town staff said funds for the purchase are available in the water account and that the town will work on an installation timeline and customer communications.
The council’s approval authorizes staff to proceed with procurement and initial implementation; members said they will communicate timing and details to residents as the town finalizes contracts and the installation schedule.
