Smart Meter Under Protest

Open Letter to California Public Utilities Company:

Please be notified that in 2011, I originally requested to opt out of the Smart Meter program, however the option you and PGE have given the public is financially draining if the exorbitant $75 fee is imposed as well as the $10 monthly charge to have someone check the meter. (The fees you are charging are in addition to any monthly charges for electricity use.) Since I had requested to opt out, a smart meter should not have been placed at my rural address.

I have notified PGE and I hereby notify you that because of the cost of the financial penalty (you call an “option”), I am forced accept the Smart Meter. However, I am doing so UNDER PROTEST. I am hereby requesting that you allow me to retain my present meter and consider alternatives I am suggesting below.

The first alternative: That I retain the present meter and that I notify you each month/quarterly/every 6 months or once a year regarding the correct reading of said meter. You would then bill me for usage.

The second alternative: I I retain the present meter remain and that you and I estimate a yearly cost which I would pay up front and it would be adjusted at the end of each year or every six months.

As a matter of historical fact, PGE, in past years, initiate the first alternative that I suggested that proved to be successful in rural areas. (We are in a rural area) These were called “Estimated rural call ins”. Neither of the alternatives I have suggested is unreasonable or unworkable. Please respond.