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Saskatchewan smart meter fires: Report says customer safety wasn't priority

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Oct, 2014 11:13 AM

REGINA - An investigation into a smart-meter program linked to at least eight fires in Saskatchewan says customer safety wasn't enough of a priority for SaskPower.

The government's power company was ordered to remove more than 100,000 of the utility meters installed in homes after the devices caught fire in June and July.

Saskatchewan's Crown Investment Corp. was directed to do a review.

The review says that rain water and contaminants getting into the meters appears to have contributed to them failing.

It also says that the failures were not related to "hot sockets" or installation issues.

The report says SaskPower failed to look at the possibility that the meters could short out and catch fire.

A smart meter records consumption of energy in small intervals and can relay the information electronically to a utilities company. It eliminates the need to estimate bills when a meter reader can't do an on-site check.

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