Newton residents can expect their old electric meters to be replaced with smart meters in the coming months.
Smart meters are digital devices that can measure electric usage on a more detailed level than older meters.
“They are basically digital meters that monitor your electricity use with a whole lot more granularity than the old meters that we have right now,” said Anna Vanderspek, electric vehicle program director for Green Energy Consumers Alliance, an energy advocacy group based in Massachusetts.
Smart meter deployment began in western Massachusetts in 2025 and is now making its way to eastern Massachusetts. These replacements come at no upfront cost to customers.
Smart meters—which have been adopted in many states including Maine, California and Texas—can measure electricity usage in 15-minute intervals compared to daily summaries that old meters provide.
With this time-specific data, the Department of Public Utilities could enact time-varying rates. These rates would allow DPU to adjust the cost of electricity by the hour rather than having a fixed rate for the whole day. For example, electricity could be offered at a lower rate during the night because of the low demand.
“It may not sound like a huge deal, but it really is, because then people are concerned, as they should be, about the affordability of energy,” said Ann Berwick, Newton’s co-director of climate and sustainability. “So then they could decide I’m going to run my dishwasher in the morning.”
This cost change can happen only if the DPU chooses to utilize the data from smart meters.
“The Department of Public Utilities has not been very clear about what it wants to get out of having the smart meters in,” said Philip Hanser, chair of Green Newton, a nonprofit focused on building sustainability practices through advocacy and education.
The DPU has not responded to multiple emails from The Newton Beacon requesting more information on what its intentions are with smart meters.
By the end of 2027, smart meters will be deployed in all Massachusetts cities and towns, according to Eversource’s website. As of mid-April, it had installed more than 226,000 smart meters across the state.
It is an opt-out program, so people will receive a smart meter unless they notify Eversource they don’t want it.
Some Newton residents have been informed by Eversource that they will get smart meters, though the timeline for these changes remains vague.
Hasner, who lives in Newton Centre, received an email from Eversource a few weeks ago on how a replacement may be made soon, but he has not received any update since.
Newton’s meter exchanges are expected to begin next month and continue through the end of summer 2026.
“Installation may take several months to complete depending on the size of the city and number of customers,” Eversource spokesperson Olessa Stepanova wrote in an email.
Other areas have yet to be notified about the change, at least by Eversource.
Michael Swain, resident of Newtonville, has not received any notice from Eversource but found out about smart meters through Green Newton’s Instagram post. He attended the smart meter seminar hosted by Green Energy Consumer Alliance on March 17.
“As an electric vehicle owner, it’ll save me money and I’ll feel good that I’m not overloading the grid,” Swain said.
Wilson Bui, who lives on Los Angeles Street along the Charles River, also has not received any notice from Eversource or sought out any other information.
“I imagine it’d be helpful to know when the peak usage hours are,” Bui said. “Because as soon as the heat wave comes or as soon as the freeze comes, that’s when everyone turns on their furnace or their AC.”