Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Just what the opt-out option will be is still undecided, according to the Maryland Public Service Commission.
Marylanders less-than-thrilled at the thought of having smart meters in their homes might appreciate news from the Maryland Public Service Commission on Monday: The commission is requiring Pepco to give customers an alternative to smart meters—devices that send radio signals about a household’s electricity usage to Pepco. Just what that alternative will be is not yet settled, but the commission has narrowed the list down to two "opt-out" options: The commission will be holding proceedings to determine which alternative should go into effect, but in the meantime, Pepco customers who previously told the utility company that they did not want smart meters on their properties (this was allowed via an interim order from the commission in May) "…
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Tens of thousands of Prince George's and Montgomery county customers are scheduled for smart meter activation in October.
Pepco is scheduled to begin activating some 85,000 smart meters on Oct. 26 in Sector 27, which includes Greenbelt, College Park, University Park, Riverdale, Takoma Park, and Berwyn Heights, with some spillover in Hyattsville and Silver Spring, according to Pepco spokesman Marcus Beal. Though the activation date is a little over a week away, the meters already are active—they attempt to communicate the day they are installed, according to Beal. What Pepco means by activation is activating the benefits, and that will occur once the meters have been tested and certified, Beal said. Those benefits include usage information that customers can access daily, even hourly, Beal said. And they can overlay that data with graphs and charts. So if a …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some say meters are ingenious, others say they're dangerous, as 202 Pepco customers opt out of smart meters.
On June 11, Pepco said 70 customers had opted out of smart meters and by Tuesday, June 26, the number had grown to 202, according to Pepco. The number of Pepco customers in Maryland is 531,000, according to Pepco. "We think the low number of customers who want to opt out indicates the majority of our customers have looked at all the scientific data and found nothing to be alarmed about," Pepco stated in an email to Patch Monday night. More than 190 comments have been posted on Patch's initial article about customers who opted out of smart meters. Below are excerpts from what our readers had to say. Readers' Speak Out on Smart Meter Pros and Cons "I think the smart meters will be a good idea for smart billing. Rates increase during high-…
Monday, June 11, 2012
Pepco said customers opting out won't get a smart meter installed, and those who already have one installed, can get their old meter back.
As of Monday morning, 70 Pepco customers have submitted written requests to opt out of their smart meters, according to Myra Oppel, Pepco spokesperson. "If they already had their meters installed, we will go and switch out that meter," Oppel said, explaining that Pepco will put back in a traditional manual-read meter. Pepco will defer the installation of a smart meter once a written request is made to the company to keep the existing meter, according to Oppel. In addition to the 70 requests, Pepco has received phone calls about the smart meters, according to Oppel, who did not have the number of calls at press time. Pepco's actions are temporary, pending a final decision on opt-outs by the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC). On May …
Judy Fiml
5:06 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Question. Might sound simple,but how would this affect my furnace? The earlier Energy saver blew out the control board on my furnace...and, charge me more than you already do for reading my power? Anything else you can charge me for! ?? more ›