After months of protests by consumers worried that PG&E SmartMeters are negatively impacting their health, PG&E extended a big olive branch Monday, saying for the first time that customers should be able to keep their traditional analog meters.
"We need to listen to our customers," PG&E CEO said Anthony Earley in an interview. "Why should we be fighting with our own customers over something like this?"
PG&E's new proposal will now go to the California Public Utilities Commission, which could vote on it as early as next month.
SmartMeters are digital devices that use radio signals to transmit information about customer electricity and gas use to utilities, eliminating the need for meter readers to manually check the meters. Utilities across the country and around the world are installing them, and PG&E is on track to have 10 million in place throughout its Northern California territory by mid-2012.
But PG&E's rollout has been marred by complaints, initially over billing accuracy and in recent months over health concerns. A small but vocal group of PG&E customers in Santa Cruz, Marin County and elsewhere has flooded state regulators with allegations that PG&E's SmartMeters make them sick and cause migraines. Santa Cruz resident Bianca Carn hired an electrician to remove the SmartMeter at her home after her children started suffering headaches.
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