A small but vocal group of Eugene Water & Electric Board customers is refusing EWEB access to the meter on their property or taking actions aimed at obstructing EWEB’s ability to maintain utility equipment, both of which violate Customer Service Policy and Conditions of Service.
A group has taken out ads in the Eugene Weekly with misleading information urging customers to “keep your analog meter.” Some of these customers have refused access and even threatened violence if EWEB attempts to exercise our rights to maintain and replace the meter, which is utility-owned equipment.
We understand that some customers feel very passionately against smart grid technology. EWEB staff and Commissioners have listened and honored the public process—the Manual Meter Reading option (opt-out) is responsive to the concerns of smart grid opponents. To accommodate the request of these customers, EWEB selected technology that enables some meters in the network to operate with the communicating radio turned off. This is not an option offered by all utilities. We continue to make it easy for customers to elect manual meter reading if they do not want the meter to transmit and receive information.
However, we take strong objection to false and sometimes dangerous information propagated by some smart grid opponents or actions aimed at impeding our operations which are authorized in accordance with the City of Eugene Charter, the Oregon Revised Statutes, and the EWEB Customer Service Policy.
In the interest of public safety and to manage the amount of time, energy, and customer resources that continue to be consumed by this issue, we are providing the following facts.
| False or Misleading Claim | Fact |
|---|---|
| EWEB will remove “your” meter without your consent. | Like poles, wires, and transformers, meters are utility-owned equipment; allowing EWEB to access and maintain utility-owned equipment is a condition of service for all customers. |
| Start posting the NO TRESPASS, DO NOT INSTALL signs on your property and right near your meter. | As a condition of service, EWEB is granted all Rights of Way, rights of access, and easements necessary for the installation, maintenance, repair, replacement or removal of utility equipment. Customers are required to provide safe and timely access to the premises for the purpose of reading meters, testing, repair, removing or exchanging any or all equipment belonging to EWEB. |
| Put up some fences or a cage or metal strip or secured covering over your meter, just so they can see the meter to read it but cannot easily get their hands on the meter. | See above regarding utility-owned equipment and rights of access as a condition of service. All EWEB meters, equipment and services must be kept free of any and all forms of Tampering or Diversion. EWEB may disconnect Utility Service(s) without written or verbal notice for equipment Tampering/Diversion. |
| Call EWEB and make sure you are on the OPT OUT / KEEP your analog meter list. | There is no such thing as a “Keep your analog meter list.” Account holders have the following options upon removal of the legacy meter: OPTION 1: EWEB will install a smart meter with communications enabled. This is the standard option and incurs no additional costs. EWEB’s continuing access to the meter is governed by the Customer Service Policy primarily for periodic maintenance. OPTION 2: EWEB will install a smart meter and connect it to the EWEB distribution system. This is the manual meter reading option. After establishing system connection, the meter’s communication functionality, including the radio transmission capability, will be turned off so that the meter does not transmit usage data to EWEB. This option requires a manual meter read and will include a monthly fee to be determined at a future date. |
| Tell EWEB you have disabled family members in the home if you have them, including EMF Sensitivity and that the Smart / Digital meters will make your family member worse and it is illegal to harm Americans with Disabilities. Ask for a Disability Accommodation. |
EWEB has reviewed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with our legal team and have determined that providing customers with the option of a non-communicating smart meter provides a reasonable accommodation. The ADA does not require public entities to provide a disabled individual with every accommodation they request or the accommodation of their choice. The installation of a smart meter in a non-communicating mode maintains compliance with the ADA by preserving access to utility services while limiting electromagnetic exposure. |
| Smart / Digital meters pose immediate danger to those that have pacemakers, electrical medical device implants, C-Pap devices, women who are pregnant, infants or kids who have ADD, ADHA or Autism. |
From the World Health Organization: “Some people perceive risks from RF exposure as likely and even possibly severe. Several reasons for public fear include media announcements of new and unconfirmed scientific studies, leading to a feeling of uncertainty and a perception that there may be unknown or undiscovered hazards. Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.” Regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), have found that the RF emissions from smart meters are well within safety limits established by international standards. Smart meters intermittently transmit and receive information using low-energy radio frequency waves similar to those utilized by cell phones, Bluetooth speakers, and smart thermostats, but a lot less often and for a shorter duration. Smart meters are a common and proven technology; more than 119 million smart meters are in place throughout the United States according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 75% of total electric meter installations. EWEB has been studying smart meters for over two decades; we are confident the technology is mature, and the meters meet our high safety and security standards. |
| Smart Meters have been known to explode or cause fires. Portland had to recently remove 75,000 Smart meters from homes due to fires. |
An analog meter is no more or less safe from catching fire than a digital meter. They are both electrical devices subject to the same voltages and energies and grounding codes. Meter failures/fires are extremely rare. Most issues with the early commissioning of smart meters were related to improper installations (seating in the meter panel) and/or over-voltage tolerance. For example, Portland General Electric replaced approximately 10% of their Sensus meters (early models) that were installed in 2010-2012. According to PGE approximately “900,000 meters have been installed without issue.” EWEB has been installing newer versions of the Sensus meters and has experienced no issues with more than 74,000 electric and 48,000 water meters installed. EWEB’s installation may, in fact, prevent fires given it provides the installer the opportunity to inspect the meter base and wiring. The over-temperature “open” function has activated in several incidences possibly preventing customer fires. |
| Smart meters create “dirty electricity.” | "Dirty electricity” refers to the presence of distortions within an electrical system and is considered part of power quality. EWEB designs, maintains, and operates our system with reliability, including power quality, as a primary goal. All electric meters used by EWEB meet the governing regulatory standards including tests for impacts on power quality. Other than the meter, there are many influences on power quality including impacts on the electrical grid from generators and transmission lines, disturbances on the local electrical distribution system, connected loads like most home appliances and electronics, fluorescent and LED lights, problems with neutral connections, grounding, and wiring, as well as natural electro-magnetic sources like solar flares and lightning. Compared to these sources, any distorted power produced by the meter is de minimis. |
| EWEB has admitted that they can sell your usage data. The meters can also be hacked and there are concerns with grid integrity. |
Smart meters use low-watt radio frequency to transmit whole-house electric or water usage — the same information that existing meters gather. No other data is collected, which means that no personal information, such as name or address, is gathered or sent via the secure wireless network to EWEB. The meters use multiple layers of security, including the same type of data encryption used by the online banking industry. EWEB conducted third-party cyber-security tests to verify the system and we are satisfied with the security. |
| Write a Notice of Liability and mail that certified to EWEB. This method has stopped many Smart meter installations. | EWEB is acting under thoroughly evaluated, approved, and legal policy. Deployment of smart meters began in 2018 and is nearly complete throughout our Eugene service territory. As of March 2024, EWEB has installed more than 74,000 electric smart meters and 48,000 water smart meters. |
| EWEB’s “contract” with customers guaranteed continued use of analog meters. | It has not been EWEB's intent or policy to allow customers to retain a legacy meter long-term, or to choose the meter type.
Customers who elected Manual Meter Reading (opt-out) were temporarily skipped during initial deployment (2018-2021). During that initial deployment, opt-out customers were told they would receive a new meter at a later date with the radio turned off. |
| Buy your own meter online and have it installed at your house. | This is not only a violation of EWEB policy leading to immediate disconnection of service, but it is also extremely dangerous. |
| The EWEB General Manager has decided, on his own, to ignore those protections and the Board of Commissioners is going along with his decisions. | Commissioners have extensively deliberated smart meters for many years dating back to the 1990s.
Over the last decade, the Board has approved policies, budgets, and contracts supporting the deployment and commissioning of advanced metering technology. This has been a very transparent process, with over 25 public meetings specifically on this metering technology. |
| EWEB has changed its definition of Opt-Out. In the original decision, Opt-Out meant no Smart Meter would be installed. Opt-Out now means that a partially disabled Smart Meter will be installed. | The option for customers to elect Manual Meter Reading (formerly known as opt-out) has been in place for more than a decade. The key change is the process of electing this option.
In 2013, customers who wanted to elect Manual Meter Reading needed to do nothing – this was the default option. In 2018, a new process was implemented requiring customers to contact EWEB to elect Manual Meter Reading. |
| EWEB is not abiding by its policy adopted in 2018. | EWEB's elected Board is authorized to review and revise operating principles and policies. Resolution 2109, approved by the Board in 2021 supersedes previous actions while preserving the intent of providing a non-communicating meter option. |
