A Dollard Des Ormeaux resident says Hydro-Quebec replaced his analog meter one day last month with a newer smart meter — without his consent.
Shapoor Hoghooghi, a realtor who works on commission, told CJAD 800 he went through a slow period this past spring and fell behind on paying his electricity bill, resulting in a power cut at his condo town house last month. He finally got around to paying the bill on July 23, which by then was worth $985.
The next day, he was surprised to learn that while he was at the office, a Hydro crew surreptitiously substituted his analog meter with a smart meter.
Like many Quebecers, Hoghooghi doesn't like the idea of the relatively new smart meters emitting radiation — particularly since his office space, and the work spaces of his two teenage boys, are located in the building's basement, where the meter is located.
"If it's outside the home, I don't care," Hoghooghi told CJAD 800. "But for me, it's the health concerns I'm worried about. [My two sons] are literally there all the time, and this thing is right there."
Hoghooghi received a letter from Hydro-Quebec explaining that it was their policy to replace meters in the event of a power cut.
"I don't know where that policy came from. I was never told," Hoghooghi said. "It's like they're looking for an excuse to change everybody to smart meters."
"If Hydro-Quebec interrupted your electricity service in the past 24 months...it may, without further notice, install communicating meters [smart meters] at all delivery points covered by your contracts," the utility told Hoghooghi in a letter. "The communicating meter is now our standard metering option for all our customers."
Hoghooghi says he intends to file a complaint about the new smart meter with Quebec's energy board.