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Liberty Utilities defends smart‑meter rollout and wildfire spending as council presses for safety review
Summary
Liberty Utilities told South Lake Tahoe leaders it will centralize customer service, pursue new power supply as Green Link is completed, and finish a $30M smart‑meter project aided by a $13M DOE grant. Residents pressed the company and council for independent safety checks, lower opt‑out costs and clearer plans for undergrounding and affordability.
Liberty Utilities president Eric Schwarz told the South Lake Tahoe City Council that the utility serves roughly 50,000 customers locally and is moving to a new energy‑supply procurement process once the Green Link transmission project provides capacity. The company outlined a $30 million advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) rollout — funded in part by a $13 million Department of Energy grant — and said it had centralized customer service functions to improve service and control costs.
"If we are not delivering value to our customers and our community and our employees, we're not doing a good job," Schwarz said, arguing the company’s moves aim to improve customer experience and free funds for wildfire mitigation. He described wildfire risk as the principal driver behind a proposed 11% revenue increase in a recent general rate filing and highlighted investments in vegetation management, covered conductor and pole replacements.
Residents and council members raised multiple concerns. Parents, business owners and local officials asked how undergrounding and other grid‑hardening projects will be prioritized and paid for, saying recurring outages and high rates make reliability the top local concern. Several speakers also urged the city to press for more locally‑sourced renewable power and to explore public alternatives.
On smart meters, Schwarz said meters provide situational awareness for outages, enable faster crew dispatch and support future safety features, while acknowledging some customers object. "We will offer an opt‑out; there is a fee, and for CARE customers it is reduced," he said. Council members and many residents pushed back against the rollout and the opt‑out charge — reported during the meeting as roughly $52.96 a month — asking for fee waivers for low‑income households and an independent safety review before further installation.
The council unanimously approved a motion directing city staff and the mayor to send a formal letter to the California Public Utilities Commission raising safety and process questions, and to copy the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), seeking clarity on regulatory jurisdiction and requesting that the CPUC and TRPA review the safety and emergency‑response implications of the smart‑meter program and the utility’s supply transition.
What happens next: Liberty said it will run an RFP to replace incremental power beyond its own Nevada solar, with an objective of renewable and affordable supply once transmission access arrives (Green Link service is currently expected around May 2027). Council asked staff to follow up with a list of undergrounding and mitigation projects in the South Shore basin and to press for an independent safety review and clearer customer‑protection measures before AMI proceeds further.
The council motion also asked Liberty to provide regular briefings on the implementation timetable and to work with the city on local payment options for customers who need in‑person, cash payment access.
