Valley customers say they want to know if their Arizona Public Service utility smart meters are saving them money on their electricity bill.

After months of installing nearly 200,000 smart meters in the Valley, some want to know why they are still paying a little more than 5 cents per day to get the meter read.

APS said customers won't be able to tell. The smart meters look the same, and so does the APS bill.

"There's just so many charges for so many things," said Lisa Brown, of Glendale.

Brown, an APS customer, said she worries the smart meters are just another way for the utility to make money.

APS spokesperson Damon Gross said customers will still have to pay the meter reading fee because only 200,000 of the 1.1 million customers are switched over. Gross said the meter reading is a shared cost.

Additionally, he said there's still some work involved in collecting the data.

"They still need their meter read," he said. "It may not be an individual walking up to it and physically reading it, but we use cellular technology sending it. That requires us to invest in cellular technology and technical support."

APS said the cost could go down in a few years, but Arizona's Corporation Commission said It may happen sooner than later.

"Clearly APS is saving money associated with not having to send people out to do that meter reading," said Kris Mayes, chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission. "It would seem obvious that charge needs to go down."

The chairman is also looking into the additional $4.95 fee APS charges customers every month to maintain the meter.

"APS has told me in briefings that they will save tens of millions of dollars associated with smart meters," Mayes said. "That money shouldn't go to the share holders, it should go to the customers."

The Corporation Commission is slated to investigate APS's rates this summer, and Mayes said customers can expect to see those meter fees go down around then.