We've had smart meters more than 10 years around here. And we had smart meters on our water meters where I used to live at least 15 years or more ago.
My questions:
Were you allowed to opt out? If so did they charge you a monthly fee to opt out?
Didn't ask. Don't care.
Do you think the new meter is accurate?
There was a big kerfuffle here when they started getting installed. Around here they tested them and found them "more accurate."
Did you get an additional monthly charge for the cost of the new meter?
No. It's cheaper. They can connect/disconnect remotely. They can read meters remotely. It's a win for the electric company.
Were you forced to use a "time of day" pricing plan, in which you are charged more during peak hours?
Nope. There is an occasional incentive the other way. "We'll give you a bonus on your bill this Friday between 2 and 5 if you use less than your average amount."
Do you experience any static on your TV or radio or computer?
No.
Thanks
(And No, I am not wearing my tin foil hat currently, but I have it ready!)
There are some distinct advantages and disadvantages:
Pro:
* Probably more accurate.
* cheaper for electric company
* my company gives me a little device that can read the meter. I hacked it so I can read it from my computer/graph usage.
* if you desired to hack the off-hours plans, it seems do-able. You could try to do most of your high energy usage stuff at night. (Clothes drying, bit coin mining, air conditioning, heating, baking, etc)
Con:
* There are some minor security concerns. Someone somewhere can remotely get an idea what you're doing by watching your meter. Experiments have even been able to determine what movie someone is watching by examining a movie-power-fingerprint database and comparing it to meter.
* Sometimes it's hard to explain problems to the call center. I had my electric line/meter knocked off my house in a tropical storm. I *COULD NOT* convince them to come out and fix it. The dweeb at the electric company would ping the meter, see it was working and close the trouble ticket. I eventually fixed it myself.