Meters Matters: Smart Meter FAQ

If you haven’t already received an equipment upgrade at your home or business, you can expect installation sometime before the end of 2012. Enter your zip code to find out when smart meters are coming to your neighborhood. A few weeks prior to the installation day, you’ll receive a letter from us letting you know that either Southern California Edison or Corix Utilities, our authorized contractor, will be coming to your home or business to install the meter.

Whether installation occurs at your home or business, you can expect a smooth transition. Meters will be installed primarily by Corix Utilities, our authorized contractor, Mondays – Saturday, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. You should be able to recognize authorized workers by their uniforms and trucks, but you do not need to be present for the meter installation as long the old meter is accessible. We will leave notice confirming that meter installation was successful.

Meter installation only takes five to ten minutes, often with less than a minute of electrical service interruption. For larger commercial installations, there is typically no service interruption. You will, however, need to reset any digital clocks on your appliances and electronics. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you operate life support medical equipment at your home or business, please call SCE at 1-800-973-2356.

If we are unable to access the existing meter, we’ll leave you information to contact Corix Utilities to reschedule.

If you have questions about Edison SmartConnect meter installation, please call Corix Utilities toll-free at 1-877-407-2317.

There will be no noticeable change to your service, except that SCE will be able to measure your monthly energy usage remotely, rather than by visiting your property. In the months following installation, new programs and services become available to customers with smart meters. Learn More >

Yes. SCE is currently installing smart meters for NEM customers (i.e. solar, wind, etc.) that lie within our deployment path, now that we have implemented and fully tested the meter data management system that supports NEM accounts and rates. SCE will be revisiting NEM accounts that were passed over initially and perform installation on a district-by-district basis.

If you already have a smart meter installed when you choose to switch to an alternative power source such as solar, SCE will be able to re-program the meter to make your account compatible.

Although you currently cannot opt-out of smart meter installation, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates SCE, is currently considering implementing opt-out provisions for California residential customers. If such a provision becomes available in the future, SCE will work with our customers who wish to opt out.

Yes. You may opt to be included on a Delay List that allows SCE customers who do not yet have a smart meter to postpone installation while the CPUC considers implementing an opt-out provision for residential customers. To request to be placed on the delay list, call (800) 810-2369 (English) or (800) 477-4455 (Spanish).

No. Once smart meter installation occurs at your home or business, your area network will be enabled and you’ll be able to use all the tools and resources that come with Edison SmartConnect. SCE cannot accommodate uninstall requests at this time.

No. Tampering with electric meters or equipment used by the utility to deliver or measure electricity use is dangerous and, in many cases, illegal. To ensure the safety of our customers and employees, SCE strongly discourages any tampering with electrical equipment, including a meter or an electrical panel. In order for SCE employees and contractors to complete their jobs safely, SCE reminds customers to keep the meter area clear for easy access. For their safety, customers should never attempt to alter, exchange, service or block access to the meter and electric panel. As part of SCE’s smart metering program, the company is currently replacing nearly 5 million mechanical meters with smart meters. The contractors performing most of the smart meter installations carry identification indicating they are approved SCE contractors. For additional questions about meter safety or other electrical safety information, visit sce.com/safety or call SCE at 1-800-655-4555.

Yes. Once the smart meter is installed, you can read the meter through one of the rotating digital screen displays. Look for the screen that displays "001" in the upper left-hand corner. It should appear every 5 seconds. Each time you use a kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity, the meter screen display will increase by one. The more electricity you use, the faster the number increases. The digital display represents a cumulative read, much like a car's odometer.

You’ll be able to see online usage reports as recent as the previous day’s. Residential customers will see usage in hourly increments; business customers will see data in 15-minute increments. You can monitor your energy use online in My Account. Energy usage is not individually tracked to specific appliances or electrical devices. Learn More >

The Edison SmartConnect NEM meter cycles through four five-second screen displays; each screen stays visible for approximately five seconds. The first screen displays your energy consumption, and can be identified by the number “001” in the upper left-hand corner. The fourth screen is unique to NEM is displays your energy generation, or the energy received from the customer. You can identify this fourth screen by the number “071” in the upper left-hand corner.

You can think of these readouts (“001” and “071”) as working similar to balance sheet. The sum of the readouts on each screen depends on how much energy is consumed versus how much is generated. For example, if a customer’s usage averages 20 kilowatt hours consumed in a day versus 15 kilowatt hours generated during that same day, the readout would show 5 kilowatt hours consumed and 0 kilowatt hours generated for that day.

SCE's rigorous meter quality-control program includes testing by the manufacturer and by SCE as well as testing in the field to ensure that our smart meters are safe, accurate and working properly.

The new meter is highly accurate. Just like the old electrical meters, smart meters measure energy use. We have teams in place to monitor smart meter performance, respond to customer inquiries and ensure accurate meter reads for billing. Smart meters also enable new programs and tools help customers manage their energy use in ways that could actually benefit your budget. Learn More >

The Edison SmartConnect system is primarily made up of two components: the digital smart meter and the communications system—a two-way system that communicates energy usage from your home or business to the utility and back from the utility to your home or business, enabling you to see detailed energy usage reports. The Edison SmartConnect meters are among the most advanced in the industry and have become the standard for many smart meter programs in other states and internationally.

Edison SmartConnect is a $1.6 billion program authorized by the CPUC. The program will be funded by an approximate 1.6 percent increase in customer rates during the installation timeframe; however, you can actively use new smart meter programs and tools designed to help you better manage your electricity use to offset the cost. This slight rate increase is not applied as a line item to your bill; rather, it will be incorporated into the overall electricity rate.

As installations progress throughout the SCE service territory, meter reader positions will be reduced and eventually eliminated. Working with impacted employees has been one of SCE’s primary focuses. SCE and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union, the union that represents many SCE employees, are helping impacted employees prepare for upcoming job changes and potential transitions to new positions.