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According to a Las Vegas Sun report, customers in southern Nevada will pay an estimated $98.75 as a one-time fee and $8.14 per month over a four-year trial period if they want an analog meter. NV Energy customers in northern Nevada who don't want smart meters will pay even more, an estimated $107.66 upfront and $8.04 per month during the trial.
The one-time opt-out fees and monthly charges we've been seeing as a handful of utilities around the country set up opt-out programs seem to vary widely. For instance, Lakeland Electric recently became Florida's first utility to approve an opt-out program with a $16.25 monthly fee and no one-time equipment replacement fee if customers opt out by a certain date. Otherwise there's a $65 equipment fee as well as the monthly charges.
In Maine, where opt outs were approved way back in the spring of 2011, the upfront fee for keeping a meter that has to be read manually is $40 with a $12 monthly charge. Or customers can get a smart meter but have the transmitter turned off; that option carries a $20 upfront charge and $10 monthly fee.
Still, opt outs are rare, according to Chris King, chief regulatory officer at eMeter. He noted in a recent article posted at Electric Light & Power that the number of customers who opt out of smart meter programs is less than 1 percent.
More from our Metering channel…
Smart meter market: half full or half empty?
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