(TNS) — U.S. Rep. Josh Riley, D-NY-19, and Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, on Friday introduced the Smart Meter Data Privacy Protection Act, bipartisan legislation “to ban utility companies from selling Upstate New Yorkers’ private data and crack down on the misuse of personal information collected through smart meters,” according to a news release from Riley’s office.

“Upstate New York’s utility monopolies rolled out smart meters under the guise of streamlining billing, and hit customers who declined to install one with extra fees,” the release stated. Customers who keep their analog meters pay New York State Electric & Gas a monthly opt-out fee of $13.47 per month.

According to the release, the new meters “capture detailed, real-time information on household energy patterns, daily routines and habits — data that industry analysts call a ‘holy grail’ for marketers and data aggregators.”

“The sale of smart-meter data is projected to grow into a billion-dollar industry,” the release stated.

The Smart Meter Data Privacy Protection Act mandates that utilities can only use customers’ energy-usage data for “core functions” such as billing, grid reliability, outages and regulatory compliance. The legislation also prevents utility companies from selling or sharing customer data without consent.

“Nobody asked for smart meters. The utilities rolled them out anyway, and if you didn’t want one, they charged you extra just to opt out,” Riley said. “Now they’re raking in millions selling all the data the smart meters collect — when you turn the lights on, when you cook dinner, when you take a shower, even when you shut the TV off at night.”

The bill also requires utilities to give customers monthly reports explaining what data was collected, how it was used and who it was shared with. Under Riley’s legislation, if a utility improperly profits from a customer’s data, it must pay that customer back through bill credits equal to the revenue it earned from the misuse., the release stated.

“We must be certain to protect Americans’ personal privacy. Smart meters can reveal families’ daily routines in granular detail, but no one should have to surrender their personal data just to keep the lights on,” Kennedy said. “I am proud to join Rep. Josh Riley in this effort to protect Americans’ right to privacy and make clear that their personal data should not be a commodity.”

©2026 the Niagara Gazette, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.