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Smart meter data can tell law enforcement a lot about an individual or household. And though the use of smart meters may not seem like such a huge intrusion upon a person's individual civil liberties and right to privacy, the Seventh Circuit explained that smart meter data does fall under the Fourth Amendment's protections; however, city utilities, generally, have a reasonable purpose for accessing the information and therefore do not need a warrant.
Interestingly, the city utility tried to argue that the residents waived their expectation of privacy, especially to third parties, by agreeing to use the smart meters. The court dinged the city here pretty hard though as the city's smart meter program was not actually voluntary and the residents didn't have any choice.
But I'm sure they've already devised a number of ways to get around this ruling.
I remember hooking up a grid tie solar system to my electric once. For the first 5 minutes my meter ran in reverse then something kicked in and it would no longer recognize the electric i was imputing. They do not want the use of such unless you buy an even more technical meter that comes with much more regulation.