Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

State hears lots of complaints about NV Energy’s new smart meters

Dan Stegemann was floored when he received his NV Energy bill only a few days after the utility installed a "smart meter" in his Las Vegas home. The bill was for $12,498 and to add to his amazement, the bill was for a period when he was away from home, Stegemann told the state Public Utilities Commission.

The Las Vegan was one of about 100 ratepayers to file a complaint about the meters, which will be the subject of a workshop on Dec. 6 to examine questions about safety, the lack of privacy and accuracy of the meters.

The critics say consumers should be permitted to op out of having the units in their homes.

NV Energy will submit its comments to the PUC on Dec. 2 to defend its decision to install the meters in Southern Nevada.

Defending the utility's claims is Demand Response and Smart Group, a trade organization. On any safety concerns, the group says the radio frequency emitted by smart meters is less than a cell phone.

Complaints in other states about high power bills associated with smart meters were found to be caused by such things as increased energy usage or the addition of a room or swimming pool.

The accuracy of the meters is 99-100 percent, the group says.

But Nina Beety claims the radiation emitted from the meter "interferes with medical devices such as pacemakers."

"Please halt this dangerous deployment in Nevada and protect the health, safety and pocketbooks of residents," Beety said.

Consumers questioned if their rates will increase to cover the cost of the new system.

The PUC said it will look at all utility costs after the system has been installed.

The Bureau of Consumer Protection said there are legitimate issues to be considered by the PUC such has health, accuracy and time and use rates. It added that the PUC should also look at how the privacy will be protected of rate holders.

The Nevada chapter of the AARP says the meters allow the utility to offer time-varying pricing plans but these are not risk free. Barry Gold, director of advocacy for AARP in Nevada, said the times to heat and cool a home is crucial to an elderly person.

Gold said elderly consumers must have affordable home energy and not follow a timing schedule that would reduce energy use during peak usage when they need the power.

The PUC, said Gold, must ensure the information isn't misused by power companies, marketing firms or accessed by identity thieves.

Jerry Nowlan has called on the PUC to impose a moratorium on installation of all new smart meters until there has been a scientific review.

The company will install smart meters in Northern Nevada in December.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy