Cutting power to the house is done at the transformer. In older neighborhoods, the transformer is located on the pole. So a bucket truck will have to be present with each smart meter installation, unless the neighborhood has underground utility, in which case the transformer is inside a ground-level box located between homes. Either way, a lot of work is involved to cut power before a meter is installed.

And then an electrician has to check wiring, which means replacement of wires. Some homes will have to be rewired between the meter and main breaker box to accommodate the new meter, and this will be at homeowner expense. Most likely when a problem is detected, the solution will also require installation of a new breaker box.

The question is, will the electric company back off the meter install? Or will they red tag the electric service until customers pay money to update their service? Thus leaving some homeowners without power.

What makes the situation worse is that Oncor is a foreign company selling Americans a smart meter manufactured in China. So the American working man is being forced to pay for the Chinese meter, at the same time big companies like Oncor are telling us that the American worker is ‘the problem.’

The smart meter issue needs to be put on the ballot before Oncor burns down the house of another American worker.

My mother had the “new smart meter” installed about a month ago.Since then she has had trouble with the lights blinking on and off.So on this past Friday(sept 17) she called TXU about the problem.They sent Oncor out late that evening while she was gone.Imagine the suprise she had when she returned home late with groceries and NO POWER! A note was on her front door saying….lugs in meter base need to be replaced fire hazard call back when repairs are made we will restore serv.After several calls to TXU ,ONCOR(representatives were very rude)she was told that she needed to find an electrician to fix problem at her expense.My mother is disabled and elderly and my sister who also lives with her is disabled.Because this was after hours more fees were charged..a total of$1483.66 to fix this problem that was caused by ONCOR because they decided to put in “smart meter”If there was a problem with lugs,was this not noticed when they were installing “smart meter” or simply that problem didn’t exist until installation of “smart meter”? So here it is 1:35 Monday afternoon and still no power.We are waiting for inspection then we can notify Oncor to have power restored.This is so wrong.These older homes are not equipped to handle these “smart meters”.So why put them in homes that are older and most likely are senior citizens living there and they are on fixed incomes.Something is so wrong with this picture.Do we still live in the United States of America?Are these “smart meters” going to join the list of many other recalled items from China?

Thanks. Been working as an electrician for a little while now so this post is very useful.

Smart meters fires are now occuring in Houston as well through Centerpoint. I had to pay $875 after a smart meter caused a fire at the meter box. I was told by Centerpoint that the meter box needed to be up to date and they denied my claim. I know of someone whose appliances burned out following a surge caused by a smart meter install. I wound up using an attorney who was able to recover my costs. He is now specializing in these cases since they are popping up all over the country causing property damage and physical harm. Contact Brad Leigh at the Leigh Law Firm (281) 419-3476.

We are investigating the extent of this problem and concerned that someone could be seriously injured or killed if North Housotn pole Line and Centerpoint Energy continue to install these meters on older homes that don’t have the wiring to handle the new “smart-meters.” NHPL has a very lucrative contract with CenterPoint to install more than 2,000,000 of these meters around town. They are supposed to hang a tag on the meter if the wiring isn’t sufficient, but of course they don’t get paid to hang tags they get paid to install meters and theiein lies the problem. Our website is woodlandsinjurylawyer.com, but we handle cases all over Texas and would be happy to visit with anyone who has experienced a fire or other injury as a result of the smart meter installations.