HECO Smart Meters Wipe Out Garage Door Openers

Open Letter to Hawaiian Electric Company

Aloha,    April 10, 2023

As I am certain you are aware, your company has broken garage door openers across Oahu by installing meters that broadcast on frequencies that interfere with single frequency garage door openers. I personally know of seven garage door openers in our neighborhood that ceased functioning after your company installed new "smart" meters. We were forced to change our system to a dual frequency system to correct the damage your company did to our home. The technician who changed our system told us that HECO had done such immense damage that garage door companies are having a difficult time keeping up with all the calls they are receiving.

What disturbs me most is that your company is pretending it knows nothing about this. It seems your call centers have been instructed to claim they have never heard of such a thing, despite the fact that they have received dozens of phone calls reporting it. This is a well understood problem with meters of the type HECO is installing and utility companies on the mainland have been honest about it. HECO seems to have taken a position that stonewalling its customers and having its call center lie is a good strategy.

Representative Kong, your constituents have been impacted. Can you pursue an investigation through our state legislature? HECO is a regulated company that operates across the state. It seems appropriate that our elected officials look into this.

Ladies and gentlemen of the news media, this is low hanging fruit. This is a big story and it should be reported. You will find that minimal investigative effort will confirm what I have written.

Sincerely,

Michael Boutte

Aiea, Oahu

cc Rep Sam Kong, media

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