BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — This summer 7 Problem Solvers has received more than a dozen complaints from NYSEG customers regarding smart meters.
The meters are a new technology that NYSEG believes will benefit customers to accurately measure their energy usage, and send that information back to the company.
Many customers emailed me about NYSEG bills that they said had been higher after smart meters were installed. I have done multiple stories on this issue.
In July, I spoke with an Alden resident who said she was experiencing higher-than-normal bills.
After that story aired, I continued to receive complaints about smart meters so I followed up with NYSEG.
“The main purpose of a smart meter is to measure accurate readings," said Shelby Cohen, NYSEG Senior Manager for Communications. Cohen said bills could be higher for multiple reasons.
We continue to receive complaints, so we followed up again. I spoke to Cohen about your questions and concerns.
SCHWARTZ: Have you seen, in any other part of New York State, bills go up for NYSEG customers after the installation of smart meters?
COHEN: We are not seeing higher bills due to smart meters, and we’ve installed more than 700,000 smart meters so far across New York State.
SCHWARTZ: One customer told me that her bill went up after the smart meter was installed because she was told there was an error by the third-party company installing it. It was fixed, but she would’ve paid hundreds of dollars more if she didn’t speak up. So my question to you is, has NYSEG looked in to see if there are any installation issues? Will the company be looking into this if this is a problem?
COHEN: I will tell you that NYSEG and RG&E process two million bills per month, and out of those two million bills we get complaints about less than a half of one percent of those, so no we have not seen a causation between high bills and smart meter installations.
SCHWARTZ: NYSEG's website states that meters do give off a very small amount of radio frequency, and customers tell me they still don’t feel safe and worry about the radiation.
COHEN: Assessing risk is something that NYSEG takes very seriously. We submitted for approval by the New York State Public Service Commission to roll out smart meters, but that approval from the NYS PSC came with the understanding that radio frequency admitted by smart meters is well below the limit set by the FCC. We have also done our own studies. We have a meter lab in Rochester, and we have a meter lab in Binghamton, to make sure that the values of RF being admitted are consistent with what we were hearing on the national scale. They are very safe. It is far below what you’re gonna get from your cell phone that you put next to your head.
SCHWARTZ: If someone doesn’t want one because of worry, concern or discomfort why should they be forced to pay the $13 opt-out fee?
COHEN: So that we can keep meter reading staff on, and so that we can maintain legacy meters.
SCHWARTZ: What about the people who want to read their own meters?
COHEN: We still have to assess the opt-out fee, because they’ll become part of the opt-out group, and that’s another part of what’s handed down by the PSC of New York.
SCHWARTZ: Some customers tell me they shouldn’t be penalized financially if they don’t want a smart meter. what do you say to customers who say that this company is not being fair with options?
COHEN: Our customers hold us accountable, and that’s really important to us. because we wanna be accountable to our customers. However correlation does not equal causation, and the reasons that people infer for a bill that has something on it come from a variety of factors, and may not be because of the reason that they assume
Cohen encourages any customers to call 1-800-572-1111. You can also learn how to understand your bill here.
