NB Power smart meter installations spark questions for customers

An NB Power customer said she received a charge for opting out of the smart meter program.

Less than two years ago, Brenda Murray’s house was built with new electrical equipment, which is one of the reasons she decided to opt out of NB Power’s smart meter installation.

“I was already educated by the gentleman on the phone that my meter that I already do have installed is giving an accurate reading. I did look into smart meters, I seen that they do give you inaccurate readings. I do see some negatives on it,” she said. “It is my choice, as a homeowner, to not put one in.”

Murray says a technician came to her house and she declined the new installation at the door since her electricity was installed so recently.

“He did educate me that I would receive a phone call where I opted out from NB Power then also that I could possibly be fined where I opted out, so the word ‘fined’ came to mind and I said, ‘I look forward to the conversation,’” she said.

It took a few weeks, but last Wednesday she received that call from NB Power.

“He said, ‘I do have to address to you now that and provide you with information that where you have opted out from not installing, there’s going to be a fee to your bill of $36 and change,’” said Murray, who noted she was told it would be a monthly charge that would start appearing on her January bill, which has not yet arrived in the mail.

NB Power says customers have two options when it comes to opting out of smart meters: they can either call customer service in advance or they can tell a technician no at the time of installation if they are home. If neither happens, a smart meter will be installed anyway.

NB Power has also confirmed that if customers choose to opt out with a technician at the door, someone from the customer care team will call to follow up with their decision.

However, NB Power says there is no fine or fee for opting out of a smart meter, at least at this point.

“Until we have all the meters deployed, we understand exactly what the costs are going to be, we won’t be able to understand exactly what will be the charge, if any, to our customers,” said Engineering and Project Management Office executive director Phil Landry.

He says smart meters send data back to the office automatically whereas old meters, or legacy meters, require a technician to collect the information.

He says once NB Power knows how many customers will still require that service, then the utility can determine if they’ll be an extra charge.

“NB Power can’t decide on its own what it’s going to charge its customers. We go through the regulatory process where we make a case in front of the EUB, Energy Utilities Board, and they will decide whether or not they will allow us to recoup those costs,” he said, who noted the customer ultimately decides if they want a smart meter or not. “We want to make sure that the customer is in complete control.”

Landry says the smart meters will give customers visibility on their consumption throughout the month and they are even equipped with an alarm that will notify customers when their power consumption exceeds 30 per cent of their previously used amount.

“We’re about 50 per cent done with the installation, so about 210,000 meters out of 385,000 I think the latest number is,” he said.

The goal is to have all meters deployed by November.

“Then of course there’s some communication testing that needs to take place over the following months, so we’ll start seeing really all, or most, of the benefits by, let’s say, early to mid 2026,” said Landry.

He says NB Power wouldn’t be ready to go in front of the Energy and Utilities Board until mid to late 2026 and while they can’t guarantee there won’t be an extra charge if customers do opt out, for now, there isn’t one.

Murray is waiting for her January bill to confirm whether or not she’ll see the charge that she was told about.

“The thing being said is that I’m being penalized per month for this amount. He didn’t say the word penalty, he didn’t say the word fine, but to me I feel that I am,” she said.

Anyone with questions about their bill are encouraged to call NB Power to discuss it.

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