Smart Meter Complaints Reach Lawmakers

DALLAS - Oncor’s new smart meters have been at the front and center of discussions recently at both a Dallas City Council meeting and a state Public Utility Commission meeting.

Unhappy customers are urging officials to require independent testing of the digital electric meters.

Oncor has installed 750,000 of the meters statewide, most in North Texas. Since then, customers like Sandra Liggins have reported spikes in their electric bills.

Liggins told Dallas council members she may soon be out on the streets because of how high her bills have jumped since the installation of her smart meter. The mother of two said her bill doubled to $745 dollars.

“My light bill is more than my rent,” she said.

Liggins claims her apartment manager found no obvious problems so she complained to Oncor. The company also reportedly found no problems with the new meter.

Liggins doesn’t buy it and she’s not alone.

One state lawmaker is calling on the PUC to put installations on hold until testing verifies the new meters work correctly.

An Oncor spokesman said that’s fine. The company is confident the meters are accurate.

Only a small percentage of meters have had problems, and those were the result of human error by their technicians, the spokesman said.

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