TODAY: Montgomery County Delegation's Metropolitan Washington Committee meets at 7pm this evening (Mon 1/28/19) to discuss and potentially vote on smart meter legislation.

The Montgomery County Delegation's Metropolitan Washington Committee meets at 7pm this evening (Mon 1/28/19) to discuss and potentially vote on smart meter legislation. WSSC, the municipal water utility serving Montgomery and Prince George's Counties plans to spend $100M to automate its meter reading operations by installing AMI smart meters. Delegate Al Carr has introduced MC/PG 101-19 that would require a study of the cost effectiveness of AMI smart meters and place a temporary moratorium on their implementation at WSSC.

The meeting location is room 218 of the Lowe House Office Building, 6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401

WSSC opposes the bill. The Delegation received testimony supporting the bill on the grounds of cost, privacy, health and the impact on the labor force. The ACLU, AARP and AFSCME 67 all support the bill. The hearing was held in Rockville on December 3, 2018.

Tonight's meeting is open to the public. The members of the Metropolitan Washington Committee are: Del. Al Carr (chair, D18), Del. Kathleen Dumais (D15), Del. Gabe Acevero (D39), Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D20), Del. Sara Love (D16) and Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D17).

Link to meeting agenda: http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/MWAagenda1-28-19.html

Text of the bill:
http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/2019/documents/MCPG101-19.pdf

Fiscal and Policy note:
http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/2019/documents/MCPG101-19FN.pdf

Sponsor testimony:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y833Gil0C6htOcYvs4ITTcHAjeuDOWTwTVaiYN5Dyjs/edit?usp=sharing

Link to WSSC's AMI smart meter FAQ page:
https://www.wsscwater.com/AMI

Contact info for members of the Montgomery County Delegation:
http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/contact.html

From Delegate Al Carr:

SUPPORT (MC/PG 101-19)

I ask for your favorable consideration of MC/PG 101-19, entitled Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission – Moratorium and Study on Advanced Metering Infrastructure.

This bill will place a 5-year moratorium on WSSC’s implementation of smart meters (AMI) and require a study of their cost effectiveness by the Department of Legislative Services. Nothing in the bill prevents implementation of a less complicated automation system called Automated Meter Reading (AMR).

WSSC is planning to spend around $100M to implement smart meters (AMI).

Constituents have raised privacy and health concerns about smart meters. But my concern is an economic one. WSSC’s water and sewer rates have increased every year, for more than a decade, faster than inflation and are currently much higher than rates in Fairfax County.

WSSC’s modernization efforts are well intended, however projects should be done cost effectively. Baltimore County, Howard County, City of Rockville and the City of Bowie have all chosen to automate their meter reading using AMR.

Passage of PG/MC 101-19 will help ensure that the ratepayers’ interests are served before this large expenditure is undertaken.