Opting out of Eversource's new smart meter costs $34 a month, and a $42 swap charge may apply

SOUTH COAST Eversource customers on the South Coast who refuse the smart electric meters the company is installing statewide would pay $34 a month to keep a meter read by hand, under its state tariff.

The meters are part of an upgrade the Department of Public Utilities approved for Eversource, National Grid and Unitil on Nov. 30, 2022, according to a later department order. Eversource says it has started exchanging every electric meter it serves in Massachusetts and will keep going through 2027.

Eversource says there is no fee at installation and installers will not ask for money, while the cost of the program "is factored into your cost of service and collected through a charge in the delivery portion of all customer bills."

Who is getting them

Eversource lists New Bedford, Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Mattapoisett, Marion, Rochester, Wareham, Freetown and Lakeville among the Massachusetts communities where it delivers electricity, along with Plymouth and Carver. Net metering customers get the new meter too, and when a landlord pays the electric bill, the landlord gets the data and online tools that come with it.

What happens on exchange day

Customers get letters about three months, two months and one month ahead, Eversource says, and those signed up for outage alerts get a text, call or email one to three days before. The company says it cannot give an exact day or time because it changes every meter in an area at once.

A technician knocks as a courtesy, but no one has to be home. A meter outside that a worker can reach is changed on the spot, and one that cannot be reached gets a notice to book an appointment. The power may go out, usually for five minutes or less.

The meter exchanges are done by Eversource's contractor, Grid One Solutions, whose trucks and ID badges say they are an Eversource contractor, and the company says its technicians "will never ask for money or any personal information." A blinking blue light on the new network devices mounted on utility poles means the device is ready, the company says.

What opting out costs

Only residential customers on Eversource rates R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 can opt out, and only after the mailed notice that a smart meter is coming arrives. The rate is printed on page 2 of the bill under "Total Charges for Electricity," and customers who qualify ask through Eversource's contact page.

An opt-out home gets a meter with no smart technology and pays $34 a month for the manual reading, or $408 a year by our math, plus a one-time $42 charge that may apply for the swap. Those amounts are set in Eversource's opt-out tariff, M.D.P.U. No. 77A, in effect since Feb. 1, 2023. The tariff says the monthly fee still applies when a reading is missed and the bill is estimated, no fee starts until the non-smart meter is in, and switching back later costs another $42.

Eversource says keeping the old meter is not an option because today's meters are near the end of their useful life and the drive-by reading system is being retired, and running both systems would raise operating costs that would ultimately affect all customers.

National Grid customers

National Grid, which the department approved for the same upgrade, charges less to opt out. Its residential customers on rates R-1 and R-2 can opt out for a $26 monthly meter reading fee and a one-time $33 charge to remove an advanced meter and install one without it, under its opt-out tariff, M.D.P.U. No. 1566, which took effect Oct. 1, 2024. That tariff replaced a 2023 version that set the monthly fee at $11 and the swap charge at $26.

What comes next

In a March 12, 2026, order, docket D.P.U. 26-44, the department opened an investigation into policies that would let competitive suppliers offer time-varying rates using each meter's interval readings. Eversource estimated the benefit of time-varying rates starting in 2029 at a net present value of $3.84 million, out of a total benefit of $667 million from deploying the meters, the order says. The department said it would announce next steps, which may include technical sessions, after reviewing the first written comments in the case.

Customers who get the mailed notice and want to opt out, or want to confirm a visit is real, can reach Eversource through its contact page, and its smart meter pages show samples of the letters and door hanger it sends.

South Coast 360 reached out to Eversource and will update this story with any response.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.