Victoria has backed down on its longtime position that BC Hydro install smart meters for all customers.
Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett announced July 18 that BC Hydro will allow customers who do not want smart meters to keep their analog meters if they pay monthly fees.
Opponents of smart meters argue that the meters infringe on their privacy and may have negative health impacts due to radiation emissions.
BC Hydro counters that the meters are part of an upgrade that will help better manage the electrical system. They also decrease costs, reduce theft, encourage conservation and automatically detect outages.
"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," Bennett said.
He then laid out three options for BC Hydro customers who do not currently have a smart meter:
- 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; and
- 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.
BC Hydro has yet to determine the fees, which the BC Utilities Commission will review to ensure BC Hydro is only recovering the cost of providing and servicing the radio-off and analog options.
BC Hydro announced in December that it would delay the controversial $1 billion smart meter rollout by one year.
Business in Vancouver reported in May that a January 21 email from Charles Reid to Deputy Premier and Energy Minister Rich Coleman, obtained via Freedom of Information, said BC Hydro sent a letter to those who objected to having a smart meter.
"If they responded with still saying no, we respected that, but of course are still trying to convince otherwise," Reid wrote.
"For those that did not respond, we went to their home and if we made contact and they still said no, we respected that and did not install.
"For those that weren't home and there was no clear account holder signage on their meter to indicate objection, we installed a new meter (assumption being, they were ok since they had not responded to our letter)."
BC Hydro has installed smart meters for 96% of its customers, or about 1.8 million meters.
