Utilities are obligated to offer customers this choice. However, it can be expensive, should one decide to keep traditional meters in order to preserve health, privacy, and the ability to purchase truly cheaper electricity
For those of you who have just heard of smart meters, or have had one placed on your home knowingly or unknowingly, or for those who think that said smart meters are a new development around the world to make it cheaper and easier for you to get electricity, gas and water via the smart grid, think again.
Rationing and control of your usage of electricity, water, and gas, and a constant incursion into your privacy, are better descriptors of what smart meters are intended to do. A good friend sent me this story about her bizarre problem with experimental smart meters of long ago.