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Southern California Edison Supports CPUC Decision on Smart Meters
April 20, 2012
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Southern California Edison (SCE) residential customers have the option to choose an Edison SmartConnect meter or a traditional electric meter, following a final decision recently by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). SCE states that it supports the CPUC's decision, and says it will respond quickly to customers who choose to opt out of the Edison SmartConnect program.
Customers who have a smart meter, but would like to opt out, can have their meter exchanged for the type (i.e., electro-mechanical analog meter or non-analog, non-smart digital meter) that was previously in place.
"Meter technology worldwide is transitioning from analog to digital technology, but our customers come first," said Erwin Furukawa, senior vice president of Customer Service at SCE. "Customer choice is something that is important to us, and we're glad that the CPUC was able to come to a timely decision to accommodate all our customers."
SCE began introducing programs and services related to its smart meter deployment last year, and more than 2.3 million customers now have access to them. Once advanced features are fully activated, SCE says its smart meters will be able to communicate with the next generation of smart thermostats, appliances and other devices.
The CPUC's final decision requires customers who opt out of the program to pay a $75 one-time set-up fee and a $10 recurring monthly charge. The cost covers manual meter-reading and associated operational and billing activities. Income-qualified customers pay $10 for the initial set-up fee and $5 a month. The first smart meter in the Edison SmartConnect program was installed in September 2009 in Downey. Installations will continue through 2012 to a total of nearly 5 million SCE residential and small-business customers in the utility's 50,000-square-mile service territory. To date, SCE has installed more than 4 million smart meters.
Edison SmartConnect is a $1.6 billion program the CPUC authorized. SCE's smart metering program was designed to help achieve California's energy policy goals relating to improved electric system reliability, customer energy efficiency and demand response, and reduced environmental impact.
Source: Southern California Edison
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