I've heard and read nothing but bad things about these meters. Too bad we are powerless against the electric companies. No company should a monopoly on something so important as electricity.
I kinda look at these meters like On-Star. They have the potential to do great harm to personal liberty and it sucks ass not having a choice on whether they install one or not.
But having recognized the dangers I catergorize them right about where I do owning a laptop or an automobile.
Unknown to most is the fact for many years there has been a chip implanted in every laptop sold in US that the government can use to walk right in and browse your files with. There are chips in your smart TVs, and chips will soon be in your smart toasters for some odd reason: like your cell phone that tracks your every move when prompted from afar you are not going to stop technologies grip on your freedoms in this political environment.
The only way to stop this sort of thing is to vote for people you trust to implement the proper security stops to prevent bad things from happening when the power commission votes yes or no for smart toasters and cell phone regulations.
This is not going to happen though.
We elect insider traders we call congress and they screw US in the butt with no grease; over and over again we both pratice the same insanity and most of US sit on partisan fences that insures only 20% of the voters decide every major election. Those 20% are always forced to compromise between two evils.
Proud Independent Voter.
Wake up or history will rightly record that Americans were too stupid to live.
The first step would be for the Partisans to stop nominating morons.
It sure would make my job easier and more meaningful.