Keep the Smart Meter Off Your Home

“I refuse installation. Put me down as a refusal.”

If you have an analog meter, you want to keep it!  Hundreds of people in Michigan are experiencing health problems from the meters, and down the road the privacy implications will be huge. To learn how to avoid getting the smart meter on your home, click the numbered links you will find after the below. It is essential that you read the information in these links in order to keep the meter off your home.The information in them will cover many questions that are not answered on this page. Hundreds of people have locked or put a meter guard or cage on their meters and will not allow DTE to install a  smart meter or opt-out smart meter on their home. The key is to stand together as a community.

To learn how to protect your gas meter, see our Smart Gas Meter page. To learn more about smart water meters, go to our Smart Water Meter page. If you are a Consumers Energy customer, read our page on the Consumers Energy opt-out because you might not need to purchase a meter cage.

DTE sometimes installs smart meters in an area before they even send letters to their customers about installation. Take precautions now!

Be absolutely sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you choose to lock your meter with any kind of device. You need to know what DTE is up to, and what you can do to stop this scourge. We cannot update the website often, so when things change, you will learn that through the newsletter.

Here is a brief summary of what to do (be sure to read all the numbered links below). First, you must lock your meter with a shackle lock (not a regular lock). This is only a first step. DTE is cutting off locks, both regular locks and shackle locks. Because some installers have been cutting locks or the loop through which you put the lock, it is highly recommended that you get a meter cage. The meter cage, just like the lock, is legal. Read our PDF on Specific Instructions for Protecting Your Meter to learn more. DTE is defeating the Tatar Guard we previously recommended. Contrary to what Tatar Guard developer John Tatar represented to us, DTE is easily able to cut off the shackle lock used to lock the guard, or pry the guard off the home. In general, the Tatar Guard will often buy you time, but it is definitely not a long-term solution. One installer recently told a woman that if she had not greeted him at the door when he came to install, he would have gone back to her meter and cut the Tatar Guard lock shackle off upon discovering it. As it was, he moved on when she told him she didn’t want the smart meter installed.

Meter cage. this device allows you to control access to your meter in the same way you control access to a meter that is inside your home. The meter reader can still easily read your meter.

While the Tatar Meter Guard is no longer recommended, if you are unable to use a meter cage, the meter guard will probably be better than a lock.

This person had both a sign and a lock to warn DTE not to install a smart meter. DTE cut the loop the lock goes through (see next picture), and installed a smart meter. They left the uncut lock sitting on top of her meter housing.

Picture showing where loop was cut. The lock simply fell out, intact, once the loop was cut, and DTE installed the smart meter. The homeowner owns the box (and the lock), so you can take DTE to small claims court for doing this.

What Does NOT Prevent Smart Meter Installation

This homeowner had had his meter locked for two years without incident. Notice the cut lock at the top of this meter box. This person ran out the door and caught the installer as he was cutting the lock. This person now has a Tatar Guard on the meter. Take note: DTE has not been cutting the locks everywhere in this neighborhood. They cherry-pick whose locks they will cut or fences they will jump. They only do a few in an area, then come back weeks later.

Just because it worked one week doesn’t mean DTE won’t come by in the next week, month, or year. We cannot tell you how many people thought they were safe, only to come home and find a smart meter on their home.

1. Signs do not prevent installation—period! See the picture above.
2. Fences and locked gates do not prevent installation. DTE jumps them.
3. Dogs don’t always stop them. DTE comes by at the moment when the dog is not outside.
4. Telling the utility company you don’t want the meter installed can work—briefly. Some people have reported that when they ask the installer not to install, their request is granted.  Please be aware, they will  come back at a later date and install the meter. They will not forewarn you. We have received numerous phone calls from people who now have a smart meter because the installer assured them they wouldn’t install. Weeks or months later, the installer was back, and a smart meter was slapped on their home. So unless you protect your meter, a meter will be installed, whether now or in the future.
5. The Tatar Meter Guard has been defeated by DTE on multiple occasions. They have pried the guard off of homes, or they have cut the shackle lock off in a minute or less. We no longer recommend this guard, but it is better than just a shackle lock on your meter because they have to cut the shackle lock with a grinder rather than simply twist the metal tab off with a bolt-cutter.

To learn exactly what to do to keep the meter off your home, click the links below. We recommend reading them in order.

1. How to Respond to Letters from DTE
2. Specific Instructions on How to Cage or Lock Your Meter; Tatar Meter Guards—detailed information on shackle locks and meter guards. For information on where to get a Tatar Guard, contact us.
3. Keep DTE or Consumers Energy from Removing Your Meter—important information on lock-cutting, how to respond to installers, and more.
4. If You Are Home When DTE Comes by to Install—how to deal with installers knocking on your door.
5. Information on Replacing the Smart Meter or Opt-Out Meter

Please call 972-2677 (area code 734) or email us with any questions.

If you already have a smart meter on your home, it may be worth it to you to opt out now, because at least the meter won’t be transmitting radiofrequency through your home. If you do opt out, send DTE a letter to opt out, and tell them that you want your analog meter back.

Replacing Your Smart Meter or Radio-off Opt-Out Meter with an Analog Meter
Some people have taken the meter off their home and replaced it with an analog meter. Here is a link to a page that gives you more information.  More and more people around Michigan are doing this because they are experiencing terrible health effects from both the smart and the opt-out meters.

Begin to make contact with others who are keeping their analogs. By supporting each other, we will be stronger individually and collectively. Please contact us if you choose to keep your analog meter. We need to know how many people are doing this. Contact us if you wish to be part of the group of people who will say no to DTE.

If you have health problems, get your doctor to write a letter to DTE. If you have a disability, you should qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Please contact us for more information on this.

Get the word out. We have excellent petitions and flyers you can pass out to people in your neighborhood, hang at your health food store, distribute at farmers markets, etc. If you are interested in petitioning with others, please contact us.

Get involved. Contact us to find out how you can help us get the word out and get legislation passed. Whether you have 10 minutes or 10 hours a week to donate, every bit helps.

Put a bumper sticker on your car.

Arrange for us to speak in your community.

Write your state legislators.

Send us a donation. It goes to support legal action and to get the word out! You can donate here.

Newsletter, Facebook—Stay Up to Date

Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter (it comes out every 1 to 4 weeks). We constantly update our website, so check back often. You can find updates and time-sensitive actions to take under our “Alerts and Breaking News” box. We also use Facebook to send out quick news updates. (While we understand the privacy concerns with Facebook, at this point in time it is a useful tool for us, and is a great way to spread the word about smart meters. If you only wish to use Facebook for access to our updates, you can get an account without revealing personal information—it’s all in what you choose to share, and you can give them any name or birthdate you like.)

Our newsletter comes out every 1 to 4 weeks. It will keep you informed and tell you what actions you can take to fight smart meters. Note that most email programs will filter out our newsletter unless you adjust your email settings. Even though you may receive individual emails from us, when we send the newsletter out to a large group, the emails may be placed in a folder other than your inbox. This happened to us! We weren’t even getting our own newsletter.. Please make sure you look for emails from smartmetereducationnetwork@ gmail. com in your Promotions, Spam, Junk, or other folders. Please contact your email provider to learn how to adjust your settings, or search on the internet.