CLEVELAND — FirstEnergy customers can opt out of a smart meter, but it will cost them a pretty penny.
The company confirmed it charges $28.29 per month to consumers who don't switch to a smart meter, a fee some consumers and a consumer advocacy agency said is too high.
FirstEnergy is aggressively installing smart meters across Ohio. The digital devices measure electricity usage and then wirelessly send the data to the utility company, which means meter readers are no longer needed.
Cleveland resident Kurt Schaffer reached out to News 5 Investigators about the fee after he was notified FirstEnergy would be installing a smart meter at his Cleveland townhouse.
He has concerns about the technology's safety, including smart meters' use of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields, the risks of fires from their lithium-ion batteries, and data privacy.
"They can detect what appliance you're using, when you're awake, when you're asleep, when you're... everything about your home," Schaffer said.
When he contacted FirstEnergy to opt out, he was told he would be billed an additional $28.29 per month.
J.P. Blackwood, the public affairs liaison for the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, a state agency that advocates for fair utility prices for consumers, said FirstEnergy's opt-out fee is excessive.
"We're in affordability crisis and consumers need to be paying only what's necessary," Blackwood said.
Blackwood said opting out of a smart meter shouldn't cost consumers over $300 a year.
"Electricity has to be affordable. It's a matter of your well-being and health," Blackwood said.
FirstEnergy's response
News 5 reached out to FirstEnergy about the opt-out fee.
A spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio requires all Ohio electric utilities to apply a monthly opt-out charge for customers who choose not to receive a smart meter. This charge covers the costs associated with manually reading those meters. FirstEnergy’s current approved opt-out charge is $28.29 per month and is one of the lowest in the state.
We are currently in the second phase of rolling out smart meters across our Ohio service territory. Customers may or may not already have one. We previously installed smart meters on more than 715,000 homes and businesses in Ohio between 2020 and 2022. Our current deployment will include our remaining 1.4 million Ohio customers and is expected to wrap up in 2027. "
According to PUCO, FirstEnergy is supposed to pass any savings from smart meters onto customers, but there's no line item on consumers' bills that indicates how much smart meters are saving them.
Instead of paying the fee, Schaffer said he will put aside his concerns and allow FirstEnergy to install a smart meter, but he's not optimistic he will see any savings.
"If people are honest, then there shouldn't be no problem," he said. "But, you know, we can't trust some of these industries and corporations to be totally honest and transparent."
