It was one of the most hotly-debated issues the Verde Valley had seen in several years: Smart meters.
In 2013, Arizona Public Service began replacing hundreds of thousands of analog meters on homes and multi-family dwellings throughout the state with advanced metering infrastructure, better known as smart meters. By the time APS got to the Verde Valley, many residents had expressed concern regarding smart meters not only for alleged health reasons and privacy concerns but because of the opt-out costs being proposed.
Late last month, the Arizona Corporation Commission denied a request allowing APS to charge a monthly fee of $5 for those who chose to opt-out of having a smart meter installed.
In its ruling, the ACC wrote that several groups of APS customers have raised concerns about the possible negative health effects of smart meters. These customers have requested the ability to retain non-transmitting analog meters, and APS’ proposed opt-out schedule is intended to recover the costs of retaining analog meters for those customers.
APS had proposed two charges for customers who chose to opt-out of AMI metering. Those charges included a one-time $75 “set-up” charge and a recurring monthly meter-reading charge of $30. APS subsequently provided updated cost estimates for a lower monthly fee of $21, the ruling states.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, May 20, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
