EVERETT — After Snohomish County Public Utilities District began replacing more than 400,000 electromechanical meters with advanced digital meters in 2023, at least one resident is unhappy with the switch.
More than 100,000 meters have already been replaced, Snohomish PUD spokesperson Aaron Swaney said in an interview, as part of the Connect Up program.
However, Arlington resident Erica Madsen says her new digital meter was installed in August without her permission, she wasn’t given enough time to opt out and the wireless connection is a potential breach of privacy, she told The Herald in an email.
The old electromechanical meters count the rotations of metal, electrically conductive discs to monitor electricity usage in a home. The new digital meters are far more accurate, Swaney said. The digital devices also include wireless connection capabilities, updating Snohomish PUD on energy consumption every 15 minutes.
Also, customers can access an online portal to see the same updates and track how new appliances change — for better or for worse — their energy consumption, Swaney said.
However, the promise of accuracy and convenience hasn’t satisfied Madsen.
“Smart meter data can reveal intimate details”
“Collection of detailed energy usage data without my consent constitutes an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment,” Madsen wrote in an email to Snohomish PUD. “Smart meter data can reveal intimate details of my daily life within the home.”
No personal information — including name, address and account number — will be stored in the meter, Swaney said.
“What’s going to be transmitted over the network will just be usage data,” he said, “using data encryption over a secure network.” Snohomish PUD’s cybersecurity team will make sure all data transmitted over the network is safe and secure, Swaney said.
Also, Washington law prohibits Snohomish PUD from selling or disclosing private or proprietary customer information to third parties.
However, Madsen provided evidence the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California may have been illegally sharing customer energy-use data with law enforcement.
Sacramento finished its smart meter installation program in 2012, and police have been requesting information for a decade on homes using a large amount of electricity, according to a lawsuit filed against the utility district with a hearing Oct. 10.
Law enforcement used the high-energy consumption as evidence to search homes, the lawsuit says, accusing residents of growing cannabis.
“If the PUD was subpoenaed for Connect Up data, we would comply with legal obligations,” Swaney wrote in an email. “This would be a very rare circumstance, and I asked around on our Connect Up team for instances in which this happened with another utility and they hadn’t heard of any.”
“The meter was replaced without my consent”
Madsen was surprised to find a digital meter installed on her house after she returned home from vacation on Aug. 20, according to the email she sent Snohomish PUD.
“On July 14, 2025, I received a letter from PUD stating that my meter would be replaced in three to four months,” her email said, “implying I had until at least October 14, 2025, to initiate the opt-out process. However, while I was on vacation, with my driveway gate closed and locked, the meter was replaced without my consent or prior notification.”
Madsen’s confusion, she said, stemmed from Snohomish PUD’s website.
“PUD customers will receive a letter and email making them aware of the pending exchange,” the website says. “The letter, which customers will receive three to four months prior to installation, will give instructions on how customers can opt out.”
However, the letter Madsen received from Snohomish PUD explained it differently.
“Sometime in the next three to four months,” the letter says, “a PUD employee will visit your location to upgrade the existing electric meter at your home or business.”
Snohomish PUD is “leaning on” what is communicated in the letter customers receive, Swaney said. It creates a three- to four-month window because “things get shifted, schedules maybe get changed and sometimes we’re going to go out to places a little earlier than maybe we expect,” he said.
Once customers receive a letter, they can call Snohomish PUD to get a sense of when a technician will install their new meter, Swaney said. “We can work with them; they just need to call us and let us know,” he said.
“The problem is that we’re trying to hit so many customers at a certain time,” Swaney said. “As we’re out on these routes, we can’t predict when folks are going to be home.”
“Clearly indicated restricted access”
Madsen said in her email the Snohomish PUD installer’s entry through a locked gate “constitutes trespassing.”
However, the meters are Snohomish PUD property, Swaney said, and technicians must have access to them.
“My locked gate clearly indicated restricted access, and PUD’s entry without prior notification or consent during my absence violates this mutual obligation,” her email said.
State law grants the district authority to sell, regulate and control the use, rates, charges, service and distribution of electrical power. The law also allows the Snohomish PUD Board of Commissioners to adopt “terms and conditions,” which the district releases as Electric Service Customer Service Regulations.
“The customer shall provide District representatives with safe, clear access and entry to customer premises for service related work,” the regulations say.
Reading the meter, testing, repairs and replacements are all reasons Snohomish PUD needs access to meters, even before the Connect Up program began, Swaney said.
Also, the letter customers receive before installation says, “A PUD employee will knock on your door prior to installation. If there is no answer at the door, the installer will proceed with installation.”
For customers who want to be home when Snohomish PUD arrives to replace the meter, the best thing to do is call after they receive the notification letter, Swaney said.
“Reach out to us and figure out what the process is going to look like,” he said. “We may not be able to tell them exactly when we’re going to be out there, but we can try to work with them.”
“Denied me the reasonable opportunity to opt out”
Snohomish PUD offers an opt-out option for customers who prefer to have their meter’s broadband wireless connection disabled. However, Madsen felt she wasn’t given sufficient time to opt out.
“Installing the meter on or before August 20, 2025 — less than six weeks after the letter — denied me the reasonable opportunity to opt out prior to installations,” she said in her email.
Customers can still opt out even after the digital meter has been installed, Swaney said, however the electromechanical meter will be replaced either way.
“I explicitly do not consent to any form of electronic meter,” Madsen’s email said, “including those with disabled radios, and demand the installation of an analog, electromechanical meter.”
Analog meters aren’t even being made anymore, Swaney said.
“We’re going away from electromechanical meters because they slow down over time — they’re imperfect,” he said. “This new digital kind of advanced metering technology is, like I said, best in class and it’s what our metering team is going to be trained on.”
There is a $25 opt-out fee to offset costs if you wish to have an engineer visit your house each month to log electricity usage, Swaney said. However, there is also a $5 option if the homeowner is willing to take and upload a picture of the meter to Snohomish PUD each month.
“It’s probably not paying for all the cost of the opt-out program, but our commissioners were really clear that they wanted to not make it an onerous amount,” Swaney said.
“I think it’s convenient for them and for me”
Arlington resident Lillian Thompson said she contacted Snohomish PUD to set up a time frame for an installer to replace her meter.
“The meter outside is where I usually let my dogs run,” she said. “I had to be home so I could bring them inside.”
Thompson was surprised by how little time the whole process took, she said.
“It seemed like seconds,” Thompson said. “I was talking with him and then he said he was done. It was very quick and efficient.”
When asked about privacy, Thompson said, “They’re going to get the information one way or another. To me it’s a normal process.”
Thompson powers her home in part with solar panels and already pays attention to her energy consumption, she said. The online portal the digital meter allows will act as a backup and provide a notification if something is wrong with her solar energy system.
“I think it’s convenient for them and for me,” Thompson said. “Now they don’t have to reach over my fence where my dogs are.”
The Connect Up program’s goal is to have all 385,000 electricity meters and 23,000 water meters switched by the end of 2027, Snohomish PUD’s website says.
The meter reading team of about 50 people will be transitioned to different jobs, Swaney said.
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
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