No, actually. I was not referring to a pole switch between the secondary or service pole and the house.
In Canada we do have what are generically referred to as pole switches, located on primary line utility poles. They are also called trip switches. The technical name for them is a fuse cut out or a cut out switch. They can also be manually shut off with a hot stick. They automatically will shut themselves off if there is a problem, such as when a branch falls on the line, or in any situation where electricity starts feeding back on the line or arcs. It is a way of monitoring so that if something goes wrong electricity is then isolated so that it does not travel into a problem area.
A switch is a safety feature which falls open in response to back fed electricity and thereby breaks the flow of electricity. The links are tin or silver alloy which melts and that is what then trips and makes the switch disconnect.
This switch can also been disengaged manually.
Why does this not appear to happen with smart meters?
They almost seem to be designed to assure ongoing electrical feed to a meter fire.
http://1hope.org/hopeblog/unknown-safety-of-smartmeters-new-disconnect-switch/

54 girl,
The utilities have always known how much electricity that all your appliances use, that is how they calculate your monthly bill.
And SmartMeters don’t use microwave, so they don’t need a shield like your microwave oven does.
The thing that I don’t like about SmartMeters is that in a few years, they are going to try an experiment on time differential pricing, they want to see how much energy a customer with a SmartMeter uses between the hours of 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm.
They think that jacking up the rates to over $1.00 per kilowatt hour is going to force people to shift their electricity use to other hours, but it ain’t gonna work. That is why I will never have a SmartMeter installed onto my privately owned meter socket.
If people really care abou textra high electricity bills, then the Smart thing to do is refuse a SmartMeter.

“Get a life”, indeed?
This unfortunately is not just the power companies pushing this product on the public. It is part of Obama’s program for the “Smart Grid”. In 2009 he allocated 3.4 billion of taxpayer’s money to “make” his mark as part of “stimulus” packages that have not helped in the “recovery” of the country. Money that he did not have to spend, my money, your money!
These meters are proving to be a problem where ever they are being put in. They take away jobs and they “help” by identifying every appliance that draws electricity while staying connected to all the other meters in an area by emitting bursts of microwaves 24/7. This is intrusive and dangerous. My microwave oven in my kitchen is contained within a box, for my safety. These have no such protective shielding.

Mia,
Pole switch ? There is no such thing. You just made that up on the fly right ?
All electrical service drops are directly connected to a step down transformer without any kind of over current protection whatsoever. The electrical potential is infinite.
There are cutout fuses on the primary lines at certain locations that protect the primary conductors only. If there is a problem within the building, the only over current protection is the customers privately owned main circuit breaker or fuses, and that is after the meter. All meters have no protection, and if a fault occurs in the private building and the main circuit breaker somehow doesn’t trip out in time (this has happened), then the local transformer blows up, KABOOM ! PCBs ahoy.

The whole meter program was funded by a $2.2 billion rate increase approved for PG&E by the CPUC, no decreases planned at all, just more rate increases and fees ahead.
A utility corporation like PG&E with 10 million electric customers can save $800 million over 10 years or $80 million per year by eliminating the meter readers.
This will go to profits, not a rate reduction for the customers. You have been fooled by the utility corporations, and now you are fooling yourself and trying to fool others too.
Unfortunately for PG&E, the system is not all working yet, so they still need to have meter readers for about 80 percent of the area that I live (Marin).
And if people are allowed to opt out of having a transmitter connecting to the radio mesh network , data collectors and the mobile phone network, then the meter readers will be forever and a day.
Many people have made a lot of money so far off of the meter scam, but so far, the shareholders have not seen any return off of the ratepayers investment .
You know that the shareholders are furious, the project was supposed to be completed in February and all the meter readers were supposed to be eliminated by now. It was supposed to be a sweet deal for them, no investment at all and a return of $80 million per year for 10 years, you know “money for nothing and chicks for free !”

And to meter Man: And don’t forget, these things are being brought to us by the same wonderful folks who installed gas mains under San Bruno that were illegal when they went in, couldn’t be bothered to set up a remote or automatic shutoff system and are still fighting tooth and nail to prevent any meaningful inspection of their lines.

In all honesty, smart meters are being used for the BENEFIT of customers. Think of all the fuel saved, vehicle cost and wear & tear avoided, payroll saved, dog bites avoided, etc…from not having to send a meter reader out to your house every month. Why would a utility do that? To reduce their costs and ultimately what they charge you. All of you conspiracy theorists who wear tinfoil hats while talking on cell phones say utilities will pocket all savings from such programs. BS. Utility commissions regulate rates and check all utility costs that they attempt to pass through to customers. We all have real fears to worry about like the massive US debt, finding good/honest politicians, how to finance health care, how to address the economic crisis, etc…and you all are wasting your time trying to fight and demonize smart meters that, with proper install, should save us all a lot of money. Get a life!

Video of a Smart Meter fire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5yie2gFhmE

News report of another Smart Meter fire.
http://www.wset.com/story/13487932/smart-meters-a-fire-hazard?redirected=true
And a letter to the Smart Meter manufacturer.
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wset/Sarah_letter.pdf

US court describes “corona discharge” in which smart meters can “potentially cause a fire”
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=sensus+cannon+corona&hl=en&as_sdt=203&case=1966039804553725949&scilh=0