News Smart Meter Monitoring Can Help Conserve Water — But Not Without a Fight, Researchers Find .

Energy & Environment Lab Smart Meter Monitoring Can Help Conserve Water — But Not Without a Fight, Researchers Find

The Hill / November 30, 2022
By Sharon Udasin

The use of smart meters to enforce water restrictions could encourage widespread conservation — but not without local backlash, a new study has found.

Amid California’s ongoing drought, researchers partnered with the city of Fresno in summer 2018 to access and identify water violations via household meter data.

While a resulting surge in fines brought a dramatic reduction in both water use and violations, a barrage of complaints thwarted the program’s survival, according to the study, released on Wednesday by the University of Chicago’s Energy & Environment Lab.

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12 September 2023

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