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AES official says smart meters will speed service; opt-out costs $35 a month
Summary
AES representatives told council the electric utility will replace legacy meters with AMI smart meters that speed service turn-on and provide outage restoration data; residents may opt out for $35 per month and an additional opt-out fee.
Scott Teeters, representing AES, briefed Council on the company's plan to replace legacy drive-by reading meters with AMI communication (smart) meters. Teeters said residents should have received information on their bills and that residents may opt out of a smart meter but would be charged an additional $35 per month plus an opt-out fee to cover the cost of maintaining the legacy reading system.
Teeters described operational benefits: staff can remotely turn service on the same day for a new owner (speeding service relative to the current average of two days), and meters will signal when service is restored after an outage so crews do not have to drive out to check. He emphasized that "the smart meter only delivers the meter reading and does not transfer customer information."
