CLEARWATER, Fla. — Imagine if you had more control over your electric bill. You may soon have that after Duke Energy installs its smart meters.
This meter has updated technology giving you the ability to see your power use and make smart changes to save money. Duke Energy crews started installing Smart Meters in Clearwater on Thursday and is aiming to have all 1.8 million of its customers armed with them by 2021.
“Smart meters will give customers access to their usage so they can make better choices,” Duke Energy Spokesperson Peveeta Persaud said.
While we can’t give you a hard dollar amount on how much you’ll save per month with the new smart meter, think of it as a tool that will help you navigate your usage smarter. Say you get an alert that you’re coming close to your budget goal. You can then cut back accordingly instead of getting that expensive surprise bill.
“Another pro of the smart meter is that customers who move in and out will have the opportunity to remotely connect and disconnect their electricity which will save some time,” Persaud said.
But what about the cons? A big fear these days: hackers. Could they access your data?
“Hacking is not an issue. The information is transmitted directly to our system and doesn’t include customer addresses or account information. Instead, there is a specific identifier for the meter that communicates to our system and only our system can identify the customer that is associated with that,” Persaud said.
While there is no upfront cost to install smart meters, they are one of many new smart technology upgrades Duke Energy is working on. The cost to cover all those changes will make your electric bill go up by 1-3% from now until 2021.
If you don’t want a smart meter, you can opt out of the program, but it will cost you $96.34 per meter and a monthly fee of $15.60 to your energy bill.
Back in 2014, our affiliate Tegna news station in Houston reported on smart meters causing problems with home appliances, but here in Florida, they say they haven’t had those kinds of problems.
Remember, to avoid getting scammed during this new technology upgrade, Duke Energy representatives will always have clear identification of who they are and what they are doing and will never threaten you or pressure you to pay them.
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