You may have missed this bit of news. On Monday, March 30th, hundreds of “smart meters” exploded in Stockton, California when an automobile hit a utility pole. Of particular note is that when a smart meter fails, the home owner is left without power. Thus 5800  customers were stuck in the dark while the utility company scrambled to fix the problem.

Other points of interest:

• These plastic meters are not Underwriter Labs (UL) approved.
• The new meters appear to be more susceptible to fires than old, analog meters.
• Some cities and provinces have been removing smart meters en masse due to their propensity to catch fire.

Takebackyourpower.net has an excellent article on the recent Stockton accident which puts this into a greater context and offers suggestions on how to address these issues in your communities. Highly recommended for reading and sharing!