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Personally I haven’t got a lot of animosity toward smart electric meters,...(Putting tin-foil hat on) It is said these have, or will have, the ability to read RFID chips so the gubbmint knows what you cook, when you are awake, how much laundry you do, etc., etc. They also emit electromagnetic fields (what doesn’t?)and cause tooth decay, I guess. EMF’s have never been proved as unhealthy or healthy as far as I know. (Did you know you can take a flourescent light tube underneath a power line and wave it around and it will light up in your hand, sometimes?).

No tin foil hat necessary. The meters aren't UL approved (at least here in Florida they're not). While the equipment at the pole is not UL approved either, it is not sitting on the side of your house. The components that you bought when you built your home and were installed by your EC were UL approved.

There have been house fires directly attributed to the meters however, the power company assures us this only happens to old homes with old wiring. I wonder if the installers flip a coin to guess whether it's safe when arriving at the scene of an obvious older home.

While the power company assures everyone this is more efficient, everyone I know who has had one installed has noticed no difference in their bill but in fact some have had an increase. When inquiring about the increase they're told the old meter wasn't working properly and they 'got away' with paying less for years. Most accept that explanation, I would not.

So, we funded these meters through our tax dollars and overall, there's no discernible difference in the billing. A win/win for the smart meter maker, the power company whose equipment was upgraded at no charge and in some cases, got a rate increase.

My brother’s family lives in SoCal and when they moved into their home, a smart meter was installed. A few days later, my sister-in-law started complaining of migraines. The thought that the smart meter was doing it didn’t occur to them so it went on for weeks with trips to the doctor and no answers.

One day their neighbors told them they had theirs removed because it was giving them headaches (literally, not figuratively) so my brother did the same and his wife’s migraines stopped the day after they removed it.

I don’t know exactly what would cause it and I’m sure it doesn’t affect everyone the same way. Still, I’d be plenty mad if these things were enforced where I live. Thankfully, my brother was given a choice to use it or not. Utilities were mad about it, but they didn’t force it on him.