How to Opt Out of your Smart Meter installation in Maryland ~ BGE, Pepco, & Delmarva Power Customers
The Maryland Public Service Commission issued Order No. 84926 on May 24, 2012 following a nearly 12-hour public hearing on whether to allow customers to opt out of the Smart Meter program. The Maryland Public Service ordered that customers can defer installation until it makes its decision on opting out.
Inform Your Utility Company Today
In order to defer the installation of a Smart Meter on your home or business, the PSC’s order indicates that you must do so in writing.
We recommend that you send your notice via certified letter to:
Baltimore Gas and Electric Smart Grid Opt Out
P.O. Box 1475
Baltimore, MD 21203
smartmeterdeferral@bge.com
………………………………………
PEPCO – MD Opt Out
701 9th Street NW
Mail Stop EP7642
Washington, DC 20068
………………………………………
Delmarva Power
MD Opt-Out
Mailstop 29SC59
PO Box 1739
Salisbury, MD 21802-1739
………………………………………
SMECO Opt Out
PO Box 1937
Hughesville, MD 20637
What Your Opt Out Letter Should Say
NOTICE OF DEFERRAL OF INSTALLATION OF SMART METERS PER PSC’S ORDER NO. 84926 DATED MAY 24, 2012
I am hereby notifying {name of utility here} and its agents that you are not to install a Smart Meter anywhere on my property pursuant to Order No. 84926 issued by the Maryland Public Service Commission on May 24, 2012.
Sign your name, include your account number, and address. In addition, we recommend sending a copy to:
Public Service Commission
Attn: David J. Collins, Executive Secretary
William Donald Schaefer Tower
6 St. Paul Street, 16th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202-6806
To simplify things, we have a PDF OPT OUT FORM you can print, fill out, and mail. However, please keep in mind that a more thorough approach would be to send one copy to your utility and another to the Public Service Commission address.
If you already have a smart meter installed
The PSC orders that you can write a letter similar that above and state that you do not want the Smart Meter that has already been installed. The utility will refrain from activating the radiation or they will replace it with an analog meter.
Download and print a sign to post on your existing analog meter
Post a Notice on Your Existing Meter
We also recommend posting a sign on your existing meter. We have created one you can use. Download and print a sign now
Follow Up with your Utility Company
The utilities say their policy is to send a postcard a few weeks prior to installation, however, on a number of occasions, no such notice was received and residents came home and discovered that a new Smart Meter has been installed.
Tell Your Friends and Neighbors!
Print informational pamphlets to share and send them the following link: http://bit.ly/PbtkiS
I just opened a notice from Delmarva Power that, in the next several weeks, meter installers from Scope Services will be in my community to “upgrade” my meter. I saw that I could opt out and wrote the letter. I then called Delmarva to tell them I was sending the letter and that, should Scope be in the area before the letter arrived, they should not install it. The customer service rep said that I could only opt out once and that when they do the next round in 6 mos. to a year, I would not be able to. When I objected, I was told that if they could not install the smart meter on the next round, my electricity would be cut off. Really??!! Does anyone know if this is true? Why bother with the opt out if, in the end, you have to accept it?
I am in the Delmarva Power service are as well. The information you were provided is not accurate. We will be looking into this. I am going to contact you to get more details. In the meantime, anyone in contact with utility representatives should record the date, time, and name of person from the utility and the nature of the conversation. The utilities have repeatedly been playing communication games with customers.
This stuff needs to be on Facebook and everywhere.
It says the Maryland Smart Meter Awareness group has 500 or so members? Do they meet? If so, where and when? What is the group doing ‘on the ground’ to inform people who just aren’t told how they will be affected, mostly on the mental/ psychological level, which is my personal gripe with this widespread infestation of meters. I moved up from Savannah, GA to Baltimore, and they are everywhere down there, and no one know anything about them, nor do many people seem to care about the radiation and privacy issues when informed.
There need to brochures/ leaflets handed out all around the city and posts on media websites asap.
Dear Alex,
Thank you for your comment. I completely agree. I just realized the dangers of the radiation from the “Smart Meters.” Thinking back, I have had a number of symptoms and my beloved kitty, who was very healthy, suddenly developed a detached retina caused by extremely and dangerously high blood pressure a little less than four weeks after the smart meter was installed. She encountered partial loss of vision in one eye which so far has not returned to normal, and she must be on blood pressure medicine daily. There is no cause of the high blood pressure on any of her lab tests. The vet said that if I had not gotten her to the vet the day I did take her, she may have lost all vision in both eyes.
Also, she is exhibiting hyperactivity. She wants to play and have my attention most of the time, is not sleeping like normal, and even comes to me and looks at me and acts as if something is wrong and wants me to engage in play with her to the point that I can’t do what I need to do. I was suspecting hyperthyroidism, but the lab tests did not show any thing wrong with it a few months back. Now that I am becoming aware of the effects of the “smart meter” I am thinking these changes may all be due to the radiation coming from the Smart meter that was installed on my home in September, 2012.
I have also had a number of symptoms such as mental changes, where I don’t feel like myself, have and inability to concentrate and be very productive, fatigue, changes in moods, and ringing in my ears. Just last week I made an appointment to see a doctor, but now I wonder if these are the cumulative effects of the “Smart Meter” radiation.
I am already thinking that I will attend my communitie’s meetings and bring this up to the group. I also will tell all of my friends and neighbors. What more can we do? I am so grateful for this website and many more like it and the “You Tube” videos about this. Have you seen the You Tube video about the gentleman who developed a steel covering that goes over the smart meter and reduces the radiation to almost none? I wonder, though if it stops the radiation from emitting out of the back of the meter into the house? There also is a video that shows how to purchase and replace and install (only by a licensed electrician) a safe analogue meter on your home and return the “Smart Meter” to the utility company.
But the real answer is that there needs to be a permanent no cost opt-out from the electric companies. Thank you for your message. Please email me with any other information you have on brochures that can be handed out, if you don’t mind. I would appreciate it greatly.
Found your site through stopsmartmeters.org. I live in Silver Spring MD and recently found out that my apartment’s going to be fitted with the Smart Meters this Friday Dec, 7. The meters will be two floors below me.
I’ve been reading about this insane travesty for at least a few years now since it began out West; I figured it was only a matter of time before it came here.
I’m not sure who to contact as I live in a tenement and would appreciate any advice. In the meantime, everyone in my building will be forwarded your website!!
Thank you!
10/6/2012… I didn’t know anything about the Smart meters until stumbling upon this web site by accident a few days ago. After reading about it I printed out the poster to place on or by my existing meter to inform them “not” to install the new Smart meter. I composed my letter to BGE to inform them of my decision to opt out of the new meter and was going to put it in the mail as soon as I got some stamps. To my surprise when I went out to put the sing on the meter… low and behold… I was confronted with the new Smart meter already installed.
I was never given any notice it was going to be installed… nor was I given any notification of its installation after it was installed. My question is… can I make BGE remove and replace the Smart meter with my old analog meter?
Reply to John: Yes, you absolutely CAN make BGE remove and replace the smart meter they SNUCK on to your house. BGE is being disingenuous, dishonest, unethical (take your pick) for continuing to install smeters while the PSC is S T I L L reviewing the whole matter to determine if they will force BGE to offer an opt out. In the meantime, until PSC makes a decision, you and EVERY MARYLAND CITIZEN has a right to demand that the utilities come back and remove any smeter and replace it with an analog. Look on this MSMA website for the link on ‘how to opt out’, which includes instructions for people who have already been victimized by BGE’s bullying tactics.
PEPCO subcontractor Scope Services Inc. installed a smart meter despite the fact that I had given PEPCO written notice to OPT-OUT of the smart meter installation xseveral months beforehand. In addition to illegally installing the smart meter the contractor service technician refused to identify himself, call Scope or PEPCO to verify that the meter was not to be installed and decided to get out of Dodge after starting his truck and quickly driving off with my analog meter in his possession.
It took numerous calls to PEPCO, Scope Services Inc. and the Maryland Public Service Commission to get the smart meter removed and an analog meter installed. Removing and installing the meter takes only about a minute. Breaking the PEPCO seal on the meterbox, pulling out the old meter, pushing in the new meter into the blades in the box, replacing the cover and then installing a new seal. That was not the problem. I did talk to several customer service representatives and supervisors and was told the PEPCO and not their subcontractor would remove the smart meter and replace it with an analog meter.
I gave PEPCO written notice several months ago using the feature on their website to specifically state that I wished to OPT-OUT of the smart meter install giving my full address,
I said DO NOT REPLACE THE EXISTING METER WITH A SMART METER. Several PEPCO customer service representatives acknowledged that they had that information in my account file and could not offer any reason why that was not conveyed to the subcontractor.
After a dozen calls in the last two days they finally said that the smart meter would be removed and replaced this afternoon. The PEPCO service technician came and made the change and was very cordial.
If anyone has OPTed-Out and had a smart meter installed take the necessary time to make the phone calls to your utility until you get the smart meter removed. I had ALL the correspondence including the page showing my exact written communication to PEPCO and the email acknowledgement of receipt of the OPT-OUT notice, and was willing to FAX or otherwise provide proof of my choice to not install a smart meter. I did not have to provide this to PEPCO as they acknowledged the receipt months ago of my written notice to them.
It is always a good ides to have documentation in case you need to prove that you have done the proper steps to support your case.
Saturday is a good time to illegally install Smart Meters as the normal contingent of persons working for PEPCO, their contractor – Scope Services, and the Maryland PSC are not working.
Scope Services (PEPCO’s Smart Meter installation contractor) IS BACK and tried to install a smart meter to replace the analog meter PEPCO had to install to replace the illegally installed Smart Meter on October 4, 2012. is PEPCO CRAZY OR JUST BELLIGERENT? Told the Scope Services contractor with a Smart Meter in hand that I had opted out of the Smart Meter way back in 2012.
I Told him it took 3 days for PEPCO to reinstall a NEW analog meter and that their records showed that his company should NEVER had an order to replace the analog meter. He replied that the analog meter was not new and he was going to replace it. I had already posted the sign located on this website next to my analog meter stating that under order of the Maryland PSC #84926 that you are prohibited from installing a meter on this property.
He said that PEPCO had ordered the meter replaced and it was their property.
I told him that if he did not leave my property immediately without touching my analog meter I was going to call the police and have him arrested for trespassing.
I have called PEPCO and reported this incident to s shift supervisor who said he will call Scope Services and make sure that they do not try to come under darkness of night or when I am not outside guarding my meter and illegally replace it with the Smart Meter. I will call PEPCO on Monday and see what I can do to have to not go through this ridiculous situation again. Beware… the utility company does not seem to want to respect an order by the Maryland Public Service Commission.
On Fri ( Aug 31st) BGE was sitting across the parking lot. I walked over and asked if he was installing the smart meters and he said yes. I pointed to my house and said i have opted out and there are signs posted above the meter. He told me which houses were being done and I said when you come back, please make sure who is installing NOT to put one on mine.. he said ok so we will see) I had not received any notice either) Debbi
Pepco is saying that they don’t need to honor my request because I am not a “customer of record”. I own the rental home, so don’t live there or have a Pepco account for that place. Can they do that?
Copy of an email I sent to Obi Linton at the Maryland Public Service Commission:
I am writing because I want the PSC to know that Pepco did not inform me in advance that it would be installing a smart meter in my home. I arrived home last week to find a technician on my property. He told me he had just installed a smart meter. Due to the potential health and safety risks at issue with the smart meters I told him I did not wish to have one and asked him to remove it. He refused and told me to call a number. After 30 minutes of speaking with a representative who was powerless to help, I was told that a supervisor would call me back within 24-48 hours. That never happened and by the time I got off the phone with Pepco the technician was gone.
I then went to the Pepco website and followed Pepco’s own instructions for opting out via the website. I was told that I would receive a response within 2 business days. Again, I heard nothing. (As an aside the representative I spoke with today told me that he was not aware of opting out via the website, despite the fact that Pepco provides that option at http://www.pepco.com/energy/blueprint/smetersmd/faq.aspx).
I just spoke with a representative (after being bounced around) that my request was “escalated to the next level” and that Pepco would take my “request into consideration.” I’m really not sure what that means. He also said that the meter has not been activated.
Pepco did not abide by the rules in providing notice and is not being clear in its communications about whether the meter has in fact been de-activated. Given the potential safety and health concerns (especially given the fact that the meter sits on the other side of the wall where we spend most of our time in the house) this matter is of great concern to me.
If you want additional information please let me know. In the meantime, please do not allow Pepco to continue bullying its customers while providing substandard service.
Thank you for your attention. I will also be posting the content of this letter at Maryland Smart Meter Awareness’s website.
Yesterday, July 16th, at 2:30 PM. a technician rang my door bell and stated that he was here to install a new electricity meter. He did.
In thinking about it, I began to check the internet for information. I had not received notice that this action would take place; nor, was I informed that I could opt out of this installation.
I called Pepco in order to learn how to opt out and have been on hold for almost 2 hours.
Lucy,
I just got home and found a woman messing around with my meter which is outside. I was aware of this new “law” and had researched it and learned that this is part of Agenda 21. (research it). Anyway, I said “I thought I was going to be notified before you came because I wanted to opt out”. She just giggled, obviously not understanding a word I said. Then she left and went next door. I have read that by opting out, we may have “complications” with our power now and then. Yes, I’ll bet we will. We are moving to Delaware within a year.
Lucy,
I would be interested in hearing from you regarding the possibility of Power “complications” for electing to OPT-OUT.
All it is going to happen is that the Maryland PSC will make a decision on the opt-out soon, and authorize a fee one time and on a monthly basis.
From all indications, the more ratepayers elect the opt-out option, the lower the fees and if enough people opt-out , there may not be any fees at all.
If you ask me, the ratepayer’s complications start with and upon installation of the Smart Meter.
And you can find out the possibilities you will be faced with having a smart meter here.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3ABCMXdUxMAX01rYi1nWHZhWTg/edit
Lucy,
Please follow the instructions above on how/what to send to PEPCO. Also, you should send an email to Obi Linton, Exec. Dir. of External Relations at the Public Service Commission (olinton@psc.state.md.us) advising him that were you were not informed in advance of the replacement, as promised by the utility.
PEPCO link to fill out a form for OPT-OUT Deferral.
The Company is complying with the Maryland Public Service Commission’s interim decision, and we look forward to the Commission’s final decision.
Customers are required to make opt-out requests in writing. Please submit your request by clicking here or by mailing the request to:
Pepco
MD Opt-out
701 9th St. NW
Mail Stop EP7642
Washington, DC 20068
http://www.pepco.com/energy/blueprint/smetersmd/faq.aspx
The PSC Order for OPT-OUT Deferral I would think applies to ALL RATEPAYERS Business or otherwise.
SEND in your meter Reading By Photo when you have an analog meter >>>> http://www.pepco.com/contact/photometerform.aspx