Smart meters can transmit energy usage information to the utility at more frequent intervals throughout the day. The meters can send and receive information related to your energy service through a secure communication network. We use the data from your smart meter to generate bills, to run a more reliable and efficient power grid, and to deliver a higher level of service to you.

Having information at your fingertips about your energy usage is the best way to manage your energy expenses. Instead of only receiving a monthly bill, you will have online access to view daily usage and estimated costs of daily usage for the bill you have received. You will have access to daily usage almost real time and eventually usage information in more frequent intervals. By the end of 2020, smart meter deployment is expected to reach 107 million in the U.S. as it is becoming the standard in utility metering. In fact, analog meters are no longer being manufactured.

You can see your information online when you log in to your Dominion Energy account. If you don't have an online account, the registration process is simple and takes only a few minutes. Just be sure to have your account number available. Register your account online.

* At this time, solar customers and a few other meters will not have insight into daily usage. Dominion Energy will continue to work toward a solution to present this data to this segment of customers.

Quick access to details on when and how you use energy:

• Daily and hourly usage and costs
• Bill projection after seven days of usage
• Smart Energy Tips
• Comprehensive Bill Analysis
• Appliance Disaggregation/Bill Itemization
  • After six months of usage, you will see an estimation of energy costs by appliance

We encourage you to set usage alerts to proactively alert you. The alerts available currently are based on costs. Set a target amount for your utility amount. If the costs for your usage exceeds the threshold you have established, we'll notify you. Ex: If your utility is typically $125.00 you can set the alert for that amount or a lesser amount if you are proactively setting a goal to use less. When we record and store your usage on a nightly basis, we will calculate the costs of your service up to that point. If your calculated usage is more than $125.00, we notify you based on your selected communication preference.

Note: You will get one alert per billing period per alert type based on the threshold that you established. Dominion Energy will not continuously send an alert every night. However, if you have multiple alerts set (based on electric and gas service at your address) OR you reset the alert amount in that billing period, you will be eligible to receive another alert, if the costs exceed this amount.

We suggest at a minimum you may want to take a closer look at your daily usage and daily costs graphs. Compare the current month's costs to the same billing period last year (if you lived at that address) or to last month's costs. Your actions or your opportunity to effect change may differ based on how many days are left in the billing period you are looking at. For example, your actions should be different if you get an alert with 25 days left in the period.

Yes, your personal information is protected. A smart meter records your energy use information and safely and securely communicates this information to Dominion Energy using digital technology – similar to your smartphone when it sends a text. The information includes the amount of energy you use and when you use it. We use this data to help ensure that your monthly bill is accurate and to provide information to help you manage your usage.

Smart meters do not collect, store, or transmit personally identifiable customer information – such as names and addresses. All energy usage information is transmitted between smart meters and Dominion Energy through a secure network and is encrypted using U.S. government-approved and -recommended standards. We follow the cybersecurity guidelines published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. These standards are regularly reviewed to remain current with industry and government security protocols.

Most electric smart meters allow remote turn on and off capability. That means if your service needs to be turned on or off, we will not send a technician to your address. In the remote possibility that your meter does not respond to the signal, a technician will be dispatched. As well, when Dominion Energy conducts its sample meter testing procedure, technicians will be on site to change your existing meter and send your previous meter for testing. And finally, other maintenance situations or restoration efforts may require a technician to gain access to your meter.

Gas meters are fitted with a device that allow us to remotely read the meters. Turn-ons and turn-offs for gas service will still require a technician to make an onsite visit, and also during the same meter testing procedure noted above. As is required today, gas turn on orders will continue to require a responsible adult who has access to the gas appliances, to be present during the service call.

Yes, but those emissions are well below the levels produced by other common household devices already used in homes today, such as mobile phones, baby monitors, microwaves and TVs. Smart meters emit a small fraction of the limits set by the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that enforces the safety limits of RF emissions.

You have the right to choose a non-communicating meter instead of a smart meter. Dominion Energy will replace your existing meter with a new meter which has had the communicating module disabled. With this meter, you will not gain the benefit of any of the smart meter enabled services and programs designed for smart meter technology. You are required to allow safe passage on our property for Dominion Energy to collect a monthly reading of your meter on the date outlined on your bill.

As allowed by Public Service Commission of South Carolina Order Nos. 2019-622 and 2020-86, customers of Dominion Energy South Carolina must pay an installation fee of $168.00 as well as a monthly fee of $15.00 to offset the charges associated with this manual process. For more information, please call our customer service team at 833-956-6723.

For more information on the smart meter, visit Itron's Consumer Resource Center.