Opt out of a smart meter

SMUD has an opt-out program for customers who do not want to upgrade to a smart meter at their home.

Eligibility guidelines

  • You must be a residential customer receiving service at a single-family home. 
    • Single family homes may include townhouses and condominiums that are individually metered as well as duplexes and half-plexes where co-location of meters exist.
    • Multi-family residential units do not qualify.
    • Apartments and other locations where meter banks exist do not qualify.
  • You must be on the Fixed Rate to be serviced with analog meters. Customers with rooftop solar systems or who participate in SolarShares program are not eligible for the Fixed Rate.
  • You're responsible for providing and maintaining monthly access to SMUD for meter installation, maintenance and reading. If you do not provide and maintain meter access to SMUD, your service will be terminated.

Alternative meters

If you choose to opt out, a non-communicating meter (analog or digital) will be installed at your home. It does not transmit any data directly to SMUD. This meter does not have an antenna or wireless communication card. It's not capable of receiving or transmitting wireless communications and has no radio frequency (RF) transmission.

Manufacturer information about the alternative meters:

Use this table to determine if opting out of a smart meter is the right choice for you.


Meter details              Smart meter
(digital) 		Non-communicating meter
(analog or digital)
View your daily electricity use Yes No
Outage detection Yes No
Remotely connecting your service Yes No
Future benefits like energy alerts and programs using a home area network Yes No
Set-up fee FREE $145.00
(monthly payments available)
Monthly charge FREE $14.00

*SMUD may revise the fees to reflect changes in meter, billing, and other related costs.

If you would like to opt out, please call us at 1-888-742-7683 or send us a secure email through My Account.

Meter reading schedule

If you have opted out, SMUD field personnel will read the meter at your home once every three months to measure your electricity use. In order to remain eligible to opt out, you must provide regular access to your meter for reading, maintenance and replacement if necessary.

View 2025 Opt-Out Meter Reading Schedule    View 2024 Opt-Out Meter Reading Schedule

For those months your meter is not read, we’ll estimate your use based on your previous averages. The read we obtain every three months will be used to reconcile previous estimates and your account will be adjusted as needed. Learn how to read your electric meter

If you'd like to upgrade to a smart meter, please call 1-888-742-7683.

 

What constitutes "opting out"?
We’ll consider you opted out of having a smart meter if you do at least one of these actions:

  • Refused installation of a smart meter
  • Failed to respond to us regarding the installation of a smart meter
  • Informed us you are opting out of having a smart meter

I want to opt out due to a medical condition. Will I still owe opt out fees?
Yes, the opt-out fee is applied to all customers who choose an alternative metering strategy regardless of that customer’s reason. You may opt out for any reason. Currently, there’s no credible medical or scientific evidence that RF emissions from smart meters cause or affect any medical condition. Our policies do not exclude anyone from services based on disability..

What does a "non-communicating" meter look like?
It’s an electric meter with a rotating digital display. There are no communicating or radio mechanisms in the meter. Since its non-communicating, all decals and other marks related to the Federal Communications Commission are not present on the meter.

How often will my meter be read by SMUD field personnel?

We’ll need to read your meter once every three months. For those months it’s not read, we’ll estimate your use based on your previous averages. The read we obtain every three months will be used to reconcile previous estimates and your account will be adjusted as needed. In order to remain eligible to opt out, you must provide regular access to your meter for reading, maintenance and replacement if necessary.

May I just keep my old meter?
No. Because we want to offer future capability for time-of-use rates, we must have only one meter in use by each individual. Our meters must be able to track interval usage data.

Are the alternative meters safe?

To ensure the continued safety of our customers, we tested the non-transmitting digital meters we’ll install for those customers who opt out of a smart meter. The electromagnetic field (EMF) in the solid-state meters selected is within the same range recorded in the old analog meter with dials. 

All tests were conducted at 240 Volts for all current ranges. All EMF measurements are recorded in Milligauss (mG). All tests were completed in SMUD's Meter Shop on the WECO 5100 test bench. A Triaxial Teslatronics Model 70 Milligauss meter was used for measuring the results. Base EMF readings were 0.6-1.0 mG when measured 0-5 feet from the test bench.


At 0 feet
Amps Analog/ Legacy Meter Itron Sentinel Solid State Meter Itron Centron Solid State Meter
0 Amps, Voltage only 300 mG 2 mG 1.8 mG
200 Amps 600 mG 260 mG 170 mG
100 Amps 400 mG 105 mG 100 mG
50 Amps 310 mG 55 mG 50 mG
25 Amps 303 mG 23 mG 30 mG

At 1 foot
Amps Analog/ Legacy Meter Itron Sentinel Solid State Meter Itron Centron Solid State Meter
0 Amps, Voltage only 11 mG 1.1 mG 1.3 mG
200 Amps 22 mG 8.5 mG 19 mG
100 Amps 13 mG 4.2 mG 9 mG
50 Amps 13.5 mG 2.3 mG 4.8 mG
25 Amps 10.9 mG 2 mG 2.9 mG

At 3 feet
Amps Analog/ Legacy Meter Itron Sentinel Solid State Meter Itron Centron Solid State Meter
0 Amps, Voltage only 1.3 mG 1 mG 1 mG
200 Amps 5 mG 3.4 mG 4.3 mG
100 Amps 2.4 mG 2.5 mG 1.7 mG
50 Amps 1.3 mG 1.5 mG 1.3 mG
25 Amps 1.5 mG 1.1 mG 1 mG

At 5 feet
Amps Analog/ Legacy Meter Itron Sentinel Solid State Meter Itron Centron Solid State Meter
0 Amps, Voltage only 0.8 mG 0.7 mG 0.8 mG
200 Amps 1.3 mG 1 mG 1 mG
100 Amps 0.9 mG 0.9 mG 0.8 mG
50 Amps 0.7 mG 0.7 mG 0.8 mG
25 Amps 0.8 mG 0.8 mG 0.7 mG