the smart meters use power before it's metered so it's the utility's power, not the consumer's.

as for what the OP suggests, it might or might not work. despite the fact that you didn't consent to getting the new meter, that meter still belongs to the utility and they could cause a consumer some serious headaches for messing around with their property. a consumer may win a court case but is it really worth the hassle? there are sneakier ways to do it since smart meters require a network and comm protocols to work. think about it.