The SmartMeter debate has now shifted north, to the bay area, where people there are getting their first taste of the smartmeters.
According to the San Jose Mercury News "PG&E's rollout of SmartMeters in the bay area has generated a flurry of complaints from consumers of unusual spikes in bills and concern that the meters are malfunctioning and over-reading electricity usage."
The same complaints heard by customers in Kern County.
One bay area resident told the Mercury News his "September bill showed a 24 percent spike in kilowatt hours used compared with the same month last year."
PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles explains the complaints between the two areas are different.
"There's some difference in the nature of the concerns from the customers," says Boyles. "A lot of the customers in the bay area did not have a SmartMeter. This might be their first few bills with it."
Boyles says a plan to install more SmartMeters system wide is full steam ahead.
But he insists, the SmartMeters are accurate.
"In our testing, we're still not finding any meters that are measuring electricity inaccurately, and I believe the count is, we've done 1100 field tests now," says Boyles.
Boyles also says PG&E customers, who were overcharged by the utility when it miscalculated natural gas prices, should receive their rebates this month or next.
