PG&E offers SmartMeter opt-out Option would cost customers hundreds in upfront charges

◼ PG&E offers SmartMeter opt-out plan

Eureka resident Beverly Filip doesn't own a microwave oven, has never used a cell phone and relies solely on Ethernet cables to access the Internet from her home. Soon, Filip might also be able to rid her house of the radiation from her Smart-Meter, installed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. last year. But if a recent opt-out plan proposed by the utility is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the decision would nearly double Filip's monthly energy bill and cost her hundreds of dollars in up-front charges. "I think it's ridiculous," Filip said of the plan, which offers existing customers a handful of payment options in order to have a PG&E technician turn off the device's wireless transmitter, which some claim produces harmful side effects.

Under the plan, which the utility submitted to the CPUC last Thursday, customers would be required to pay an up-front charge to have the transmitter shut off along w ith a monthly fee. For customers not enrolled in the CARE discount program, opting out would cost either $270 or $135, with an additional monthly fee of $20 for the lower up-front fee or $14 a month for the higher fee...