Augusta, ME, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- July 17, 2012 - The Maine Public Utilities Commission has failed to resolve the health and safety issues related to Central Maine Power Company’s installation of smart meters and should now do so, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.

In a 15 page decision the court found that the Commission may have considered to a limited extent health and safety issues. However, having never determined whether smart meter technology is safe, the Commission is no position to conclude that requiring customers who elect to opt-out to pay a fee is not “unreasonable or unjustly discriminatory.”

The ruling was made in response to an appeal from a group of smart meter opponents, led by one Ed Friedman, who argued, among other issues, that the Commission had ignored its statutory mandate to ensure the delivery of safe and reasonable utility services.

However, at the same time, the court rejected the privacy, trespass and constitutional claims made against Central Maine Power.

In May 2011, the Maine PUC voted to require Central Maine Power to offer customers an opt-out option, either with a smart meter with its transmitter turned off or by retaining their existing meter.