City Council Votes on GWP Smart Grid Opt-Out Option

The Glendale (California) city council unanimously voted on charging customers a fee of US$59 per billing period for having electric and water smart meters with the radios turned off.

The fee for opting-out is assessed because the smart meters will be read manually by a meter reader instead of wirelessly through Glendale Water & Power's system. The utility stresses the importance of having digital meters with radios turned off as opposed to analog meters in order to have access to interval data to meet energy objectives. Less than one-half of 1% of customers in Glendale have requested to opt-out. Visit www.glendalewaterandpower.com.