(I believe that at least some of the blatant inequity in the Texas blackouts was necessary for this type of reason. There were various critical facilities (gas pumping stations, for example) that, if shut down due to rolling blackouts, would have further reduced grid capacity.)
The grid wouldn't be dependent on the cell network. Billing would.
As an aside, there are distressing reports of meter-associated fires. These seem to come in two categories: installation issues (poor contact between meter and socket) and issues with the relay itself. The former is not specific to smart meters per se, but the latter is. A device that can safely switch 100-320A at 240V is not that cheap and not that small, and I suspect that some smart meter manufacturers try to cut costs.
Also, around here (Portugal) you're billed for the maximum power in your contract - it starts at 3.45 kVA, I think, with 6.9 and 10.35 levels commonly available (at 230 volts, that's 15, 30 or 45 amps). Used to be that a hardware circuit breaker enforced that limit, nowadays it's the meter cutting off supply in case of excess power draw.
(No reports of fires that I've heard of.)
The last two places I lived, it was.
In the more recent one, residential customers who didn't opt in to the smart thermostat, which allows the power company to override your temperature settings in an emergency, could be automatically cut off from the grid in a crisis.
In the older one, a factory I worked for was part of a program where they volunteered to be cut off from the grid remotely in the event of a power emergency. The factory got some kind of discount or rebate for being part of the program.
Except for the first year where there was a bug that turned it off for an hour at a time, it's never been noticeable.
I think most utilities would act in the same way.
Sorry, in what relevant scenario does the power company never get paid?
OP pointed out a potential feedback loop between the cell network going down and the grid failing. Are you suggesting everyone will crank up their AC when the network fails because the power company will have some difficulty collecting metering data that day?
It is quite common for those meters to be placed so that they are visible from a public street or alley, so that meter readers can read them without entering the property.
Here is one electric company that talks about this in their meter reading FAQ [1].
> The numbers on a electric meter are clearly visible from six to ten feet away. And, by noting the position of the dial indicators, an experienced meter reader can accurately read an electric meter from as far away as twenty feet. We also provide binoculars and/or monoculars for readings beyond the range where the dials are not clearly visible.
[1] https://www.snopud.com/home/homefaqs/faqmtrread.ashx?p=1285
A lot more private information is already placed onto the street, in public: the contents of your garbage cans.
It's not binary accessible v. non-accessible, it's level of effort.
The connection in home smart meters is used mostly just for consumption data and maybe remote diagnostics. In some cases it's used for load management, but this requires a written contract with the user.
Basically it goes "You let us turn off your AC/Furnace/other high load unit during load peaks and we'll give you a discount on your electric bill."
Just the information on which meters can't be connected to (due to cell networks being down) gives the power company a bunch of data on where the actual fault is located.
