PORT ANGELES — Residents will be stuck with the city’s new “smart” meters whether they want them or not, an advisory committee has decided.
The city’s Utility Advisory Committee, which includes three of the seven City Council members, discussed Tuesday possibly allowing residents to opt out of the meter replacement program that is scheduled to begin this month.
But the committee chose to keep the meter replacements mandatory since it would require the city to maintain two separate billing systems and reduce the benefits of having the meters, said Brooke Nelson and Cherie Kidd, who are council and committee members.
The decision was by consensus.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio sits on the committee as its chairman.
Two other council members, Pat Downie and Max Mania, also were present. Their input was included in the discussion, said Glenn Cutler, city public works and utilities director.
Kidd said allowing residents to opt out of the program would add costs to the city’s utilities that would possibly have to be passed on to customers.
“We discussed it throughout, and we could not figure out a practical way to make it work and be cost-effective for the homeowner,” she said.
The discussion was prompted by one resident’s concern over radiation from the meters.
Nelson said staff told the committee that someone would have to stand against a meter for a day to get the same level of radiation as is emitted during a two-minute cellphone call.
She said committee members were already aware of that but added they wanted to give the residents’ request for an opt-out option a full discussion.
“We are asking and want to hear what people have to say,” Nelson said.
“But we still have to make the best decision for the most amount of people.”
Rather than using meter readers, the new meters track electrical and water consumption remotely through wireless devices and fiber-optic cables.
They also allow customers to track their energy use throughout the day.
Customers also can allow the city to reduce the energy use of certain appliances during times of the day when demand is at its peak.
The city is spending $5.4 million to replace the approximately 19,000 meters in Port Angeles, most of which are beyond their life span, city staff said.
The first meters are scheduled to be replaced this month in the I Street neighborhood, but a date has not been set.
The city is still waiting on the contractor, Mueller Systems, to finish determining how many homes will be connected to the first wireless “collectors,” said Larry Dunbar, city deputy director of power systems.
As soon as that’s done, likely within the next two weeks, the city will mail notices to the residents receiving the first meters, he said.
“We’re probably starting this month,” Dunbar said.
All meters are scheduled to be installed by January.
Nationally, some customers of the “smart” meters have complained that they overstate electrical usage and cause inflated bills.
City staff have said that problem is likely due to those customers previously using slow, outdated meters. Some Port Angeles residents also may see a hike in their bills if their current meter is faulty, city staff have said.
To prevent a backlash against the change to the new meters, the City Council approved a communications plan for the project, hiring Parker LePla of Seattle, a marketing firm, to tell customers about the program.
The plan costs $69,801, with the city contributing $44,801 and the rest coming from a Bonneville Power Administration grant.
While Port Angeles hasn’t seen a pushback so far, some communities have had strong negative reactions to the new meters.
A New York Times article stated that some experts have attributed that to utilities doing little to educate their customers about the new meters.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.