XCEL Energy smart meter opt out?

[buffalobo]

Morgan County REA switched us to Smart meter long ago. Bill went up approx 30%.

The benefit of not having scumbag driving around my yard messing up my road and landscaping out weighs the increase in bill.

MCREA can kiss my azz.

[Jeff350]

I got a notice about switching out the “smart saver” switch that cycles off the A/C. I never signed up
for it in the 1st place, must have been the previous homeowner. I’m definitely going to tell them to pound sand, I’m not giving up control of my A/C on the hottest days to save $40/year.

[BushMasterBoy]

Any significant changes to your bill?

Seems the same. It is a brand new house I bought in 2006. Average monthly bill is $75. However my bill is up this summer due to using central air conditioning. I rarely use the A/C as I have a window swamp cooler. It seems way hotter this year and I thought global warming was BS. First time I have ever seen roads closed to flooding, too. Lots of neighbors have photo voltaic panels around here. Many are the large arrays that are mounted to frames on the ground. All the lots are an acre or more.

PS...I just got the bill amount VIA email...$103...so about 25% higher than last year. I know the Central AC is the culprit. I have a solar powered fan for the attic, just never installed it. Maybe install it this winter?

[colorider]

I had the saver switch put on my AC several years ago. Without it, my wife would have the damn thing on 24/7.

[Gman]

Smart meter is different than the saver switch.

Got my analog meter changed out a few months ago. Bills didn't change. Allows the electric co. to use the Zigbee wireless protocol to read the meter from a distance which saves labor not requiring meter readers.

[Delfuego]

It keeps the meter-reader from going onto your property mostly. I spoke with my Xcel guy years ago about it. They can read the meter wireless/remote. Not sure what else it does. It is 2021, and those dial meters are 50's technology. Probably a good upgrade for them, especially if you keep a dog in your yard.

If your worried about privacy... Xcel already has all your personal info on a internet facing server with in an unsecured/unencrypted database on an un-patched server with known security flaws That's the weaker link imo, not the smart meter.

[MrPrena]

xcel

[bellavite1]

So I called Xcel this morning and this is what I was told:
We have the opt-out option, which will incur in additional fees (I guess for the cost of having someone come to read the analog meter).
Or we can get the smart reader.
The new pricing structure is supposedly going to be optional:
Come April 2022 we would be given the option of either keep our current rate or getting into the new deal (I guess for some folks it could be cheaper).
Either way they will replace the existing unit with a new one (smart or analog) which may or may not give the same readings as before...
So, considering that if they want to increase my readings/bill there's really not much I can do, and considering I only have a swamp cooler, no fancy computerized AC, I will probably let them do it and stay with my current rate.

[ray1970]

On a related note, not sure if my meter is smart or not but it still has the little wheel thing that spins around. I was near it last weekend and man that thing was hauling ass.

Looking forward to cooler weather so all of my utility bills will come back down.

[O2HeN2]

I'm inquisitive, do you want to opt out for some specific reason, or just principle?

O2