Local hydro authorities say the public shouldn’t be alarmed over Thursday’s recall of 5,400 smart meters – especially if they pay their bill on time.
The Electrical Safety Authorities has ordered that the meters be removed from Ontario, over hears rain water and contaminants could get into the meters and spark a fire.
“We’ve certainly not had any issues in our service territory, or even in Ontario, with this meter type,” said Wilf Meston, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro’s vice-president of operations.
The fault is similar to the one that caused nine meters in Saskatchewan to catch fire last summer, although the exact model involved in the Saskatchewan fires is not believed to be in use in Ontario.
Of the 5,400 meters being removed across the province, nearly 350 are from Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro.
A further 500 to 600 belong to Waterloo North Hydro.
Meston said the meters in question were, at least in Kitchener and Wilmot, all installed in 2014.
Typically, he said, they were used in areas of frequent tenant turnover, hard-to-reach locations and at homes with accounts in arrears.
Replacing each meter will cost the hydro utility about $75.
Those costs won’t be passed on to the account holder, Meston said.
