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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky Bill Establishes Customer Opt-Out and Fee Prohibitions for Smart Utility Meters
Last action · March 11, 2026: to Natural Resources & Energy (H)Sponsors: Candy Massaroni and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky legislation grants utility customers the right to opt out of installations, requires thirty days advance notice before replacement, prohibits fees or surcharges for opting out or for installation, and sets retroactive refund provisions back to January 1, 2015.
Property owners gain the legal right to reject s or demand replacement with s at no charge, while utility providers face strict limits on data usage and liability for radiation levels.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
utility customer
Customers receive new rights to opt out of smart meters, request analog meters, avoid installation and opt-out fees, and seek retroactive refunds dating back to 2015.
retail utility service provider
Providers must supply written notice before meter installations, maintain a sufficient inventory of analog meters, absorb opt-out and installation costs, report meter fires, and adhere to strict data privacy and radiation limits.
Office of the Attorney General, Office of Rate Intervention
The office must review customer reimbursement requests, determine fee compliance, send required notices, and oversee the automatic return of improperly collected charges.
Key Facts
- Retail utility service providers must give written notice at least thirty days before replacing an analog meter with a smart meter or installing one for a new service.
- Customers have thirty days after receiving notice to opt out of having a smart meter installed or to request replacement of an existing smart meter with an analog meter.
- Customers cannot be charged for smart meter installation, different rates based on meter type, or opt-out fees and surcharges.
- Customers seeking reimbursement for improperly collected fees have twelve months from the date imposed to file a written request through the Office of the Attorney General, Office of Rate Intervention.
Show all 10 facts
- The fee refund provision is retroactive to January 1, 2015, allowing customers to claim credits or refunds for charges paid on or after that date.
- Retail utility service providers and responding fire districts must submit a report of any fire involving a utility meter within thirty days to the Office of the Attorney General and Public Service Commission.
- All smart meters installed in the Commonwealth must contain a warning label stating that the meter emits radiofrequency radiation emissions that are possibly carcinogenic to humans.
- Smart meters must be certified by Underwriter Laboratories under current safety standards, and uncertified meters must be replaced within thirty days at no cost upon request.
- Evidence of radiofrequency radiation levels measuring at or exceeding one hundred milliwatts per square meter constitutes prima facie evidence that the meter is harmful.
- Data collected by a retail utility service provider is confidential, and using meter infrastructure as a transmission hub for other wireless networks requires an additional easement, express written consent, and just compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my utility provider charge me a fee if I choose not to have a smart meter?
How long do I have to request a refund for improper fees charged in the past?
What happens if a smart meter catches fire?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Mar 11, 2026HouseCommitteeto Natural Resources & Energy (H)
- Mar 4, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Retroactive Consumer Protections
The bill establishes retroactive financial relief going back more than a decade to January 1, 2015, for improper utility charges.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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