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| 11/27/2008 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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Journal/Sam Green
Louie Vallejos and Derrick Gonzales trade out electric meters Monday at a house on County Road 27. The new meters allow Empire Electric to read meters from the office. |
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Empire Electric installs new meters
Data system doesn’t need monthly meter readers
Emily Ketterer
Journal High School Intern
With all the talk about televisions changing from analog to digital early next year, Cortez will see another technological change that has been several years in the making.
Compared to the old electric meters at homes and businesses in Cortez, new Empire Electric Association meters won't have dials or spinning wheels. They will send information automatically to the electric association, however, and Empire Electric won't have to send meter readers around to collect monthly numbers.
Although Cortez is getting new meters now, the first generation of meters has operated for the past six years or so, according to Doug Sparks, member services manager for Empire Electric. The first generation of meters was able to have one-way communication with Empire Electric's system; those meters were installed outside the Cortez city limits. The new generation, which Empire Electric workers are installing within the city limits now, will have two-way communication.
The one-way communication allowed meters to send information to Empire Electric. Two-way communication allows Empire Electric to send information to the meters and receive information from the devices.
The meters also will let Empire Electric know if there is any sort of outage and, if there is an outage, determine which circuits are affected.
"We can do a diagnostic really quick," Sparks said.
Empire Electric will install more than 3,000 meters, and everyone in Cortez will receive one, Sparks said. Customers will not be charged for the new meters because the devices were already in the electric association's budget. Costs associated with the new meters are not related to the rate change that will take effect in January.
After receiving the meters, Empire Electric customers will be able to learn how much electricity they have used at a given date instead of having to wait until a statement arrives each month. If there is a question with a bill or owners would like to know how much electricity has been used, they can call Empire Electric and see their energy consumption, which Empire receives every hour.
"The goal is to allow the consumers to track their own usage," Sparks said.
The information will not be relayed to customers unless they call and request it.
"That's a lot of information," Sparks said.
During the installation of the new meters, there could be temporary power losses, Sparks said. If residents are home when the meter technicians arrive, the Empire Electric employees will try to let the residents know work is about to begin. The installation should take about 10 minutes.
"Most of the people are positive," Sparks said about Empire Electric customers' response to the meters.
However, some residents didn't like the change, he said.
Empire Electric is already down to three meter technicians. Some of the past technicians have moved on to other areas of the company.
For questions about the meters, call Empire Electric at 565-4444 and ask for Bobbe Jones or Doug Sparks.
Reach Emily Ketterer at emilyk@cortezjournal.com.
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