PSO and the OCC Don’t Follow Their Own Rules

PSO and the OCC Don’t Follow Their Own Rules

The Standard Alternate to a Smart Meter in the United States and

Canada is the analog meter.  The predominant meter listed in the Oklahoma Corporation Utility Rules (OCC), and the Customer Contract filed by PSO at the OCC, is the analog meter. 

Why has PSO refused the retention of the reliable analog meters in Oklahoma?  PSO's penalty rate to refuse the "offer" of the Smart Meter is nearly the highest in the Nation. 

PSO testified before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission that 1,300 customers refused their "offer".  When asked by the Attorney General's office to present evidence, PSO refused.  PSO's narrative changed three times in the same case before the OCC. PSO testified that 1,300 refused the offer, another witness testified that 250 refused and another that only 150 customers will refuse once they receive the notice of the $71 one-time charge and $28.00 penalty per month.  PSO spokesman Stan Whiteford told the press last Thursday that only 60 customers have refused the Smart Meter. So, how many is it?

PSO customers who want to retain their reliable analog should be extended that option at little or no fee.  During the case before the OCC the Attorney General's office submitted eleven pages of evidence from other states that allowed the retention of the analog meters at a low or no monthly fee.  The Administrative Law Judge, Ben Jackson of the OCC ignored the eleven pages of evidence in his recommendation to the three Commissioners.

Facts:

• ·         Analog meters installed the 1950's are still metering electricity
• ·         Smart Meters have a lifespan of 5 to 7 years according to Congressional testimony in October 2015 (if they don't malfunction, overheat or explode from a power surge).
• ·         Analogs are plentiful and still sold in the United States. They are also manufactured in other countries as are the smart meters.
• ·         G.E. no longer manufactures the smart meters PSO purchased and continues to install.  G.E. sold their metering division in April 2015
• ·         PSO's proposed AMR smart meter with the transmitter turned off produces electromagnetic radiation and still has the liability to arc and overheat.  PSO's AMR is a 10 year old used meter with an indemnity clause attached, implying the meter is hazardous.

There was no factual disclosure to the unsuspecting public when PSO launched the deployment of the Smart Meters.  Three to five percent of the public is electro-sensitive to radio frequency radiation and electromagnetic radiation produced by the smart meters.  The only safe meter for the sensitive is the analog meter.  There are smart meter health cases filed with the OCC which have no resolution after 3 years.  

Why has PSO spent two and a half years at the OCC at great legal expense (passed on to the rate payers) trying to deny those with health related issues the right to retain the standard (analog) alternative meter?  The attitude of PSO toward their customers has been punitive and discriminating toward the disabled, the elderly and the poor.  PSO should provide customers with the alternate analog meter, read four times per year (PSO’s OCC filed requirement) at a reasonable fee.

PSO should have to follow their own rules. The Standard Alternate meter to the Smart Meter (AMI), is the analog meter. PSO should allow customers to keep their analog meters.