As the OP here, I thought I would bring you up to date on how my situation turned out. Although everyyone in my service area will get a smart meter, I was unable to sign up for the study they were conducting during the start up perior. To sign up, you are required to let the elec company install a new thermostat that communicates via Zigbee with the smart meter. Since I already had my HAI thermostates installed as part of my HA structure, I was not willing to replace it thus I would not have real time visibility of the rates. I asked about using the new HAI Zigbee thermostat...no deal...must use the one they include in their package. They also have a tabletop display they use in some other areas which is a stand alone unit. They would not allow that either because it is not part of their package.
I am tempted to call them back and see if they would let me use their thermostat independent of my HVAC system. I assume all I would need is to provide a 24VDC power source and that it would function OK even if it is not connceted to any HVAC to function.