Duke Energy’s contractor Grid One Solutions will be swapping out Bald Head Island’s 1,400+ old meters with new smart meters from Monday October 19th through Wednesday, October 21st. Customers will not need to be home when the switch is made. There will be a one-minute disruption in service while each meter is changed out. While on the island, Grid One Solutions professionals will be wearing uniforms, reflective traffic vests, and will have ID badges.
The new secure smart meters will give customers more control with the ability to view daily or even hourly energy usage between meter readings. Duke Energy will be able to detect whether an outage is caused by their system or something with in your home. The new meters will eliminate the cost of having meter readers because meters will be read remotely. There is no charge to Duke Energy customers for the new meters or the installation.
Customers have the option of opting out in favor of manual meter readings. An enrollment fee and monthly surcharge will apply. Customers who provide a notarized statement from a medical physician licensed by the North Carolina Medical Board citing that the customer must avoid exposure to radio frequency (RF) emissions, to the extent possible, to protect his or her health will have both the one-time and monthly fees under the Manually Read Metering (MRM) option waived going forward, once the waiver request is approved.
More information about opting out can be found HERE. More information about smart meters and FAQs can be found HERE.