The metres have been criticised for disadvantaging already struggling, low-income households.

Most residents will be slugged with an extra $40 to $60 on their annual power bill to cover the cost of the new metres, which will be compulsory in every home under a mandate by the State Government.

Smart meters are to replace manual metre reads and estimated power bills by providing electricity consumption data in 30-minute intervals.

Powercor's rollout schedule will see households in and around the towns of Guildford, Franklinford, Hepburn Springs, Daylesford, Creswick, Clunes and Talbot have the metres installed by the first half of this year.

The metres will be read manually until they are switched on in mid 2010.

Powercor spokesperson Ryan Auger said residents would find a charge on their bill for the metres.

He said the new system had benefits for the consumer.

"From a customers' point of view, more access to information about electricity consumption will help them to make more informed choices,"he said.

"It helps distribution companies like Powercor detect outages more quickly and accurately, and rectify it more quickly.

"Gone are the days when we are going to be patrolling house to house to determine who is affected."

But opponents of the smart metres are angry the government is forcing them to have the equipment installed.

Guildford resident Mary Free is concerned about long and short term health effects of having radiation pumped through her home every 30 minutes

"We need guarantees on these issues from State and Federal governments before this installation goes ahead," she said.

Mr Augur said because the smart metres comprised part of the electricity distribution system, Powercor would not be able to supply electricity to households without them.

He said the use of low power radio frequency transmitters to communicate meter readings was well below Australia standards.

"It equates to a text message four times a day," he said.