New Meter Reading Fee Is Outright Theft...

Xcel Energy is now ripping me off for an extra $23.84 per month because they came and replaced my perfectly functional electric meter with a non-communicating unit that requires them to read it manually - like that is some kind of a new situation - they have always had to read my meter, with no fee involved (well, at least one that you could point to on the bill). They try to cover for this new cash grab by saying that I should have had a "smart meter" installed instead, but that's crap, as they still have to show up to read my gas meter, and they read both my gas and electric at the same time, just as they always have - so, nothing new here, except they get to reach into my pocket deeper than they already do, while also trying to strong-arm me into their dynamically controllable grid system...

Xcel needs to have their monopoly situation terminated - lousy prices, lousy service and stupid capital allocation to non-stable base load power fantasies...