Need Help with Neighbor's Smart Meter

I became ES symptomatic in 2011 when the next door neighbor got a smart meter.  She moved out a couple of years later to another home she had but kept this one which has stayed empty for over 10 years.  I just put foil over the her meter which was situated in a recess in the outer wall with a door. Our houses are eight feet apart.

However, last year she embarked on a complete renovation on the house, adding an extension to it.  It took a year, and now she's moved in. The house now has a heat pump, which is now mandated by CA law for new construction, and all new appliances. A new electric box has been added to the outside of the wall with additional huge wires going to the utility power line.  (Wish I could post a picture to describe this better.)  

I talked to the owner again about getting an analog meter. She said she would if it were allowed, but she didn't know if it were possible because of the heat pump, and what the regulations might be. She said she would ask her construction manager because the electric inspectors were requiring the electrical setup be changed. On Tuesday, I saw that the smart meter (a new one?) had been moved to the outside box, and is in the open, about seven feet from my kitchen.

I need to talk with her again, but need some information.

PG&E has a SM opt-out provision, but I suspect they'd have told the contractor a SM is required, even if it isn't.  (I don't trust PG&E; they lied to me in 2012 saying SM's were mandated by law, but they wouldn't give me specifics. At that time they were sneaking meters onto people's house. I locked up my analog meter with a chain, and still have it.)

My questions are:
 1. Does anyone know if for some reason a heat pump needs a smart meter to report usage?  I looked online but couldn't find any info. I don't know how they work, i.e. if they can send energy back to the grid like solar panels do for instance (don't think so), or if they use such high voltage they need a SM to measure it.  (Obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about here... that's why I'm asking.)

2. I'm thinking if she's been told she has to have a SM, and can't have an analog one, I might be able to convince her to let me put shielding over it, such as the Smart Meter Guard or anything else you could recommend that would stay on it outdoors.  Any ideas what might work? Shielding it might at least help me a bit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OVJCPS6/?coliid=I1N87P2J3A4GHW&colid=28AYDPZSCGU9K&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

All suggestions, ideas, and/or explanations would be most appreciated!

That new metal box may be a DRU - demand response unit - which utilities use to turn off the appliance - usually HVAC units or irrigation pumps in my state - when there's too much demand on the grid.  Usually the utility gives a discount on electric rates if the customer chooses to use one.

Is California mandating that DRUs be installed with the newly mandated heat pumps?  You might have to find the CA code on this and read the fine print.  I never heard of a DRU until smart meters came on the scene, so perhaps they do have to have a smart meter in order for the utility to communicate with the device.  But I used to have a 23 year-old heat pump which worked fine without a smart meter.

I'm going to ask this question to some PG&E customers in an EMF group and will post here if any respond.

Gosh, I wish this group was still accessible by responding through email which was easy.  I'm not a fan of Facebook, so here I remain, but wish more people posted.

> Gosh, I wish this group was still accessible by responding through email which was easy.
> I'm not a fan of Facebook, so here I remain, but wish more people posted.

Yes, I don't have an obvious solution for that.  Nabble discontinued email replies here, so all we have is web posting now.  The only real viable alternative I've seen to Facebook is Gab, although I'm sure we'd be flooded with conspiracy theories on that platform.

Marc