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Current runs through two coils which create a magnetic field, and that field creates eddy currents that make the aluminum disk spin, and the rotations are counted and are indicated on the dials.
New meters are digital and far less prone to error.
In a lot of cases, old meters were undermeasuring actual usage, so people got cranky.
These cranky people don't seem to care that for years and years they were underpaying.
No wonder they want their old shitty inaccurate meters back!
Sell small cell phone like panels to home owners that show that data. Now all I need is a kickstarter 
The meter reader is in a set of coveralls four sizes two large.
Meters are outside, otherwise they can't be read.
The dude in the story seems to be a real person, a yoga instructor, but Google search doesn't show any stories about him and a meter problem.
I think it's all hype to promote this cheezy Infowars type video.
Yet a lot of people are buying it, apparently.
an Iphone uses more power than a fridge 
Which means people have been getting a break all along and now are pissed about paying for what they're using.
Funny how the same people who support solar energy are fighting one of the key components in expansion of solar.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/23/an-update-on-my-solar-power-project-results-show-why-i-got-solar-power-for-my-home-hint-climate-change-is-not-a-reason/
And follow up calls to see if I was satisfied with the service during the outage.
But they never called to say, hey you need to pay your bill. I wish they had.
They did send an email, which I missed.
It's amazing how paranoid people are.
For National Geographic News
Published December 12, 2012
Energy consultant Craig Miller, who spends much of his time working to make the smart grid a reality, got a jolt when he mentioned his work to a new acquaintance. The man, who happened to be a lineman at a Pennsylvania utility, responded earnestly: "Smart meters are a plot by Obama to spy on us."
The encounter was a disheartening sign of the challenge ahead for proponents of the smart grid, who say that the technology can help the industry meet power demand, fix problems faster, and help consumers lower their electricity bills. Advocates of such a 21st-century grid are learning that they need to take privacy concerns seriously. Though smart meters are not, in fact, a domestic espionage scheme, they do raise questions: In a world where households start talking with the power grid, what exactly will be revealed? And who will be listening? (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity."
The term "smart grid" encompasses an array of technologies that can be implemented at various points along the line of transmission from power plant to electricity user, but for many consumers, it is symbolized by one thing: the smart meter. A majority of U.S. states have begun deploying the wireless meters, which can send electricity usage information from a household back to the utility remotely at frequent intervals. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 36 million smart meters were installed across the nation as of August 2012, covering about a quarter of all electrical customers. In the European Union, only 10 percent of households have smart meters but they are being deployed rapidly to meet an EU mandate that the technology reach 80 percent of households by 2020.
Because smart meters can provide real-time readings of household energy use instead of the familiar monthly figures most customers now see in their electric bills, the devices offer a new opportunity for consumers to learn more about their own power use and save money. But the ability to track a household's energy use multiple times a day also presents some unsettling possibilities. In theory, the information collected by smart meters could reveal how many people live in a home, their daily routines, changes in those routines, what types of electronic equipment are in the home, and other details. "It's not hard to imagine a divorce lawyer subpoenaing this information, an insurance company interpreting the data in a way that allows it to penalize customers, or criminals intercepting the information to plan a burglary," the private nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation noted in a blog post about smart meters. (Related: "Pictures: The Energy Drain of Recreational Drugs"
More at the link.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/12/121212-smart-meter-privacy/
Our bill was 67.00 a month last year. This year it was raised to 86.00 that's 20.00 a month increase.......so I called to find out why the 20.00 jump, the woman said it's for "possible" increase in use. I said what??? a possible increase?? gave her a bit of my mind and she then changed the budget amount to 75.00 a month. I thought d*mn right, a 20.00 increase for possible increase in use my arse. 
was to put in double pane windows with that film in between the panes.....really cut down on the bill. Yikes.... that's a ton O' money for a bill. 
Smart meters are poisoning our kids and causing cancer!
Sid
Or at least, it hasn't happened recently. Well, ok, but not often. Well, frequency aside, it's not widespread... Er, uh...
And the NDRC, National Resources Defense Council, support smart meters but that's because they're a front for Ford Motor Company.
http://www.infowars.com/smart-meter-slavery/
Also, every few seconds they send out a short RF signal that can be picked up by a passing utility worker in all types of weather, rather than the worker have to walked through gates and yards and face dogs and snow, to get a reading.
Further, for people with solar energy systems, these meters can run backwards.
Because we, as a society, are smart enough to know that we're going to have to be more efficient and use tools to get there, utility companies everywhere are replacing old inaccurate meters with smart meters.
Part of being green and lean means giving customers tools to monitor their own energy use, and smart meters allow for this.
It's a pretty typical pattern, reflective of the system demand profile which you can see at the California Independent System Operator Website:
Be sure to check this out! 
http://www.caiso.com/Pages/TodaysOutlook.aspx
And here's my graph, it's been hot.
