There’s a lot of misinformation out there about smart meters. We’ve gathered some information for your convenience, but you don’t have to take our word for it – we’ve also included independent and credible sources of information.
I heard smart meters burned down houses/garages when they were installed in 2014
No. One house fire occurred during our meter installations in 2014 as the result of an electrical fault, but no smart meter was ever installed at this home.
Do smart meters mean higher bills?
No. Because actual power use is used for billing, rather than an estimate, customer bills will be accurate every month, eliminating unusually high or low bills. A higher bill would be a reflection of increased power use, not the meter.
Do radio frequency waves cause headaches and health problems?
Health Canada indicates that exposure to radio frequency emissions from smart meters do not pose a public health risk. The signal transmits from a meter to the network for a total of 0.04 seconds a day. Tests have proven that radio frequency emissions from our smart meters are less than many common household devices, including Wi-Fi signals, laptop computers, baby monitors, cordless phones, cellphones, garage door openers and remote car starters.
How secure is the information being transmitted?
SaskPower will apply the same privacy protection standards to all customer data we collect, including meter information obtained by smart meters. The data we collect through our meters is used only to ensure accurate billing. Only encrypted meter readings and meter identification are transmitted through smart meters, not your personal information.