As your local cooperative, EnergyUnited continues to look for innovative ways to operate efficiently, deliver reliable service and provide top-notch customer care. And to aid in these efforts, EnergyUnited is investing in new automated metering infrastructure (AMI) technology or "smart" meters. This technology will allow your electric meter to store usage, outage and voltage information in your meter and to communicate it back to our offices through our existing power lines.

Of substantial benefit to our members, it will no longer be necessary for EnergyUnited to visit your property monthly to read your meter. Your meter will be read electronically. Reading accuracy will be increased and the need for estimated bills due to an inaccessible meter or inclement weather will be eliminated.

Using the smart meters, EnergyUnited will have the capability of measuring usage at hour and daily intervals. By having this information, EnergyUnited can help our members better understand their energy consumption and how variables such as weather affect their consumption. Eventually, this information will enable us to offer special energy-efficiency programs.

These smart meters will help us provide better service by improving our ability to quickly locate outage areas. Although the AMI system will not automatically notify EnergyUnited of a power outage at your location, it will help us determine widespread service interruptions. Once the restoration process is complete, the system will determine if power has been restored to individual meters or a group of meters.

The AMI system will also record voltage and system load information which will be used to enhance power quality and increase reliability. It will enable EnergyUnited to detect meter tampering and illegal use as well as remotely disconnect meters from our offices.

This is exciting technology for all of us and we know you will be anxious to have your meter replaced. The deployment will take approximately three years for all meters to be replaced. Our engineers are working diligently to analyze and schedule this deployment to optimize efficiencies.

AMI is a key component of what’s called a "smart grid", an evolving, "self-healing" transmission and distribution network that can track the flow of electricity with great precision and efficiency.

At EnergyUnited we’re committed to building a smarter grid, making it faster, more efficient, and smart enough to handle challenges this century promises to bring. Supporting innovative technologies that make economic sense is just one way EnergyUnited continues to provide you with safe, reliable, and affordable power now and for years to come.