Quebec energy board slashes opt-out costs by 60 percent

By Rhonda Massad

www.thesuburban.com In recent months Quebec’s energy board has passed a ruling capping the opt out fees by almost 60 per cent less than the original price for those who wish to install a non-transmitting, manually read meter instead of a smart meter. Hydro customers who have already opted out of the controversial smart meter at a cost of $98 should be looking forward to a refund on their bill. In May, the board lowered those fees to $48, in addition to an eight dollar-a-month meter reading charge added on to power bills. The key is to opt out within the 30-day grace period. For those that did, the rate went from $98 to $15 with their monthly meter reading fee going from $17 to $5. Should you miss the grace period the price used to be $137 to opt out and is now $85. Hydro Québec plans to replace 3.75 million analog meters across the province by 2018, for a total cost of close to $1 billion.