Fuss about smart meters

Meter refused: electricity cut off to senior citizens!

The electricity has been cut off and the sisters in Eastern Styria are keeping their heads above water with a generator.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

A family in Eastern Styria had their electricity cut off because they refused to have a new digital electricity meter installed. The European Court of Justice is now also dealing with smart meters. 

Exactly two weeks ago, the house of Gertrude Nistelberger (83) and her sister Helene Wagner (92) in Pischelsdorf in Eastern Styria went dark. The grid operator, Feistritzwerke, turned off the electricity to the elderly ladies. Not because they hadn't paid their electricity bill. It's about the installation of a smart meter, the digital electricity meter (see info box below), which is set to gradually replace the existing mechanical meters in Austria.