Last week, Maine was exploring whether to let Central Maine Power customers opt out of getting smart meters. This week, the California Public Utility Commission asked Pacific Gas & Electric to provide a proposal that would allow PG&E customers to opt out of smart meters.

Although I think offering an opt out is bad public policy, in the end this is a reasonable approach. Here’s why…

Offering an opt-out is a good way to empower people who have strong concerns about smart meters to take action — no matter how ill-founded their concerns might be. (Decades of research have shown no scientific evidence of health effects from radio frequency emissions at the levels put out by smart meters.)

Utility customers should not have to pay extra just to opt out of getting a smart meter. But, as with all utility services, they should pay the incremental cost for getting special treatment. In the case of Maine, this worked out to a one-time cost of $124, plus monthly costs of $9.95.

In places where utility customers were offered this a choice, very few customers actually exercised it. For instance, in Littleton, Mass., only 13 customers in the entire city opted out.

A simple, fair, and common-sense opt-out proposal by PG&E would be an effective way to respond to Northern California’s very few — but very vocal — critics of smart meters.