Unlike your existing meter, your smart meter will help us respond faster to outages, give you useful insights about your energy consumption, provide a forecast of your upcoming bill and help the grid make better use of clean, renewable energy sources.

Explore account features

• View your usage
• Sign up for bill threshold alerts
• Sign up for paperless billing

Smart meters transmit data using low frequency radio waves that have been proven to be safe. In fact, the radio frequency from smart meters is so low that you could stand directly in front of a smart meter for a year and still have less radio frequency exposure than you’d get from a single 15-minute cell phone call.

Learn more about safety

Smart meters use low-watt radio frequency to transmit whole-house electrical usage information through our secure wireless network. No other data is shared or collected, and no personal information, including name and address, is included with the transmission of usage data.

Learn more about security

The best way to see how much energy you’re using is to log in to your online account. From there, you can see your energy usage broken down into monthly, daily and even hourly levels, plus average temperatures, tips to manage your energy usage and more.

Unlike a traditional meter, your smart meter cycles through a variety of messages that are related to the functioning of the meter, including:

• 88888 which ensures the display is working
• Register 14 read – The amount of electricity used (in kWh). This is what your bill is based on.
• Register 16 read – This is the peak demand (in kW) for the billing period. For residential customers, this does not affect your bill. For commercial customers, a kW greater than 15 gets billed.
• Register 416 – This is your instantaneous kW; it shows how much load is currently on the meter (in kW). This does not affect your bill.
• CLOSED or OPEN – This display shows the status of the internal service switch. OPEN indicates the switch is open and the power is off. CLOSED indicates the switch is closed and the power is on.  

We’re installing smart meters at no cost to our customers as part of our strategy to modernize the power grid. However, if you do not wish to upgrade to a smart meter, there is an opt-out option available for a monthly fee. The fee covers the cost of manually reading the meter. If you opt out before a smart meter is installed, your existing meter will stay in place.

Please note that opting out of a smart meter may also result in a change to your current meter reading and billing dates.

If you have any questions about opting out, please contact us toll-free at 1-866-869-8520 to discuss this option.

Opt-out information for Oregon customers:

Effective December 4, 2019, Oregon customers who choose to opt out will be charged a monthly meter reading fee of $10.

As an alternative, you may enroll in our Triannual Read Equal Pay program. Under the Triannual Read Equal Pay program the meter reading fee is $3 per month and the number of manual meter reads are reduced from 12 times per year to three times per year. For the nine months of the year when the meter is not manually read, customers will get an estimated bill that is based on a historical average of their previous bills. All residential customers with non-standard meters are eligible to participate with the exception of residential customers with net meters, time of use meters or demand registers. These meters do not qualify because regular meter reads are needed in those circumstances to bill customers accurately.

If you change your mind at any time, we will install a smart meter at no additional cost. Monthly meter reading fees will not be refunded.

Oregon customers who request the removal of an existing smart meter will be charged meter exchange fees totaling $169.00, plus the monthly meter reading fee. If you change your mind within six months of the exchange, we will install a smart meter and refund the meter exchange fee as charged. Monthly meter reading fees will not be refunded.

Opt-out information for California customers:

California customers who choose to opt out will be charged a monthly meter reading fee of $20; $16 for CARE customers. If you change your mind at any time, we will install a smart meter at no additional cost. Monthly meter reading fees will not be refunded.

California customers who request the removal of an existing smart meter will be charged a meter exchange fee of $75 for non-CARE customers and $60 for CARE customers plus the monthly meter reading fee. If you change your mind within six months of the exchange, we will install a smart meter and refund the meter exchange fee as charged. Monthly meter reading fees will not be refunded.

If you had a smart meter installed prior to the California Public Utility Commission ruling on August 23, 2018 and you wish to opt out you will not be charged the exchange fee only the monthly meter reading fee.