Smart meter options announced
VICTORIA
– Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines, announced today that BC Hydro
will offer new options for customers who have put their smart meters on hold.
Government
is responding to public concerns by providing opt-out options with the costs
borne by those customers and not subsidized by the majority, who have a
standard BC Hydro smart meter. BC Hydro customers who do not currently have a
smart meter will now have three choices:
- Choose the standard smart meter at no cost.
- Accept a digital meter with the radio off. This option will be subject to a one-time cost to modify the meter plus a monthly fee to read the meter.
- Keep the old analog meter, which will be subject to a monthly fee that will include both the extra cost of reading the meter and the cost of instituting duplicate systems.
Costs
and fees associated with the options will be established by BC Hydro but will be
reviewed by the BC Utilities Commission to ensure that BC Hydro is only
recovering the cost of providing and servicing the radio-off and analog
options.
Modernizing
the electricity grid is a critical part of BC Hydro’s plan to provide a secure
and reliable power system to support the economy, new and emerging industries
and communities all over the province. The replacement of obsolete mechanical
meters with modern smart meters is a critical part of this transformation.
Smart
meters are the end-point of the electricity grid and are part of an upgrade
that will help BC Hydro improve its management of the electricity system. They also
lower costs, reduce theft, encourage conservation, and can automatically detect
outages. Over 20 years, the program will pay for itself and will help keep
rates affordable, which is a priority for government.
The wire bringing power to my home has two ends, one is on my home and the other is on their pole. I cannot, perhaps, object to it being on their pole. I can certainly object to radio signal emitters being placed on my home.
ReplyDeleteBC Hydro has the ability to control their poles. Let them do so.