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Are they allowed to install these without communicating with me first and if I request to have it removed will them tell me to bugger off?
originally posted by: SpongeBeard
Not too far back BC hydro (electricity monopoly in BC) mandated replacement of all of the conventional meters with smart meters. I remember hearing about all sorts of "OMG, MY BILL RAISED BY $300!!" posts on local forums. They completed replacements of the conventional meters about 2 years ago, at least in my town and surrounding areas, and I have noticed no bill increase whatsoever. It's quite nice actually. The BC hydro website now graphs everything out in near real-time, and you can view hourly usage during the day, weekly peaks, costs, etc.
The smart meters also wirelessly transmits diagnostics to BC hydro even in the event of a power outage, which alerts them instantaneously to individual outages and an idea of the cause. I have noticed a sharp decrease in wait time during power outages since they were implemented.
Honestly, I'm all for the smart meters. We still have the conventional meters for gas line though, so still random workers walking onto property to read the meters, lol.