The new meters, installed free of charge, help shorten outages, provide daily usage data, and keep Oregon a leader in using clean, renewable energy.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Pacific Power is bringing more efficient and effective smart meters to residents and businesses of the Klamath and Lake County areas, replacing thousands of aging electric meters.
About 40,000 new meters will be installed in the area which includes Klamath Falls, Lakeview, Chiloquin, Bly, Beatty, Bonanza and other unincorporated areas. The installations are set to begin in Klamath Falls on May 7 and will continue throughout the area through July. In all, Pacific Power will replace 590,000 meters in communities across the state from now through fall 2019.
“Installing smart meters is a key step toward the power grid of the future here in Oregon and our customers here in local community all benefit,” said Todd Andres, Pacific Power’s regional business manager for the Klamath and Lake County area. “By vastly improving our meter technology, we can deliver power more reliably and shorten outages, save costs, and allow for better management of renewable sources.”
The new smart meters will:
- Instantly track outages, meaning faster service response and shorter outages overall.
- Let customers view their power usage hour-by-hour, so they can adjust their activity to reduce both their carbon footprint and bill.
- Provide businesses with detailed usage reporting which will help them cut costs and make investments in items that help their business grow.
- Update the grid to work more efficiently and better integrate renewable power sources.
“Our region is one built on innovation, so I am proud that the communities here in the Klamath Falls area will be playing a part to drive innovation both locally and for our state,” said Klamath Falls Mayor Carol Westfall. “This is a smart upgrade that helps our residents manage their energy use and keeps things running smoothly day to day.
More than 70 million smart meters have been installed nationwide, which includes half of all households in the U.S.. Smart meters are a key component to updating the energy grid originally built for technology from 100 years ago. They also help Pacific Power hold down operating costs, improve customer service and reliability while maintaining the highest standards of security and customer privacy.
Access to daily energy usage information will be available to customers via a secure website. This near real-time energy usage information will let customers better understand what is driving their electric bills and help them make decisions that can save energy and money. This capability will come about six weeks after a new meter is installed.
“We are connecting our small communities throughout Oregon in a way that improves the reliability and efficiency of the grid, both at home and at work,” said Andres. “With smart meter technology now mature, proven and available at competitive prices, we can deliver the benefits without any additional cost to customers.”
Here’s what customers can expect during the installation process:
- Customers will be notified before installation through the mail and will receive detailed information about the new smart meters. Reminder calls will be made to customers as their scheduled installation date approaches.
- Pacific Power’s authorized installer, Aclara, will arrive between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to make installations. Installers will drive vehicles and carry badges that identify them as an authorized contractor of Pacific Power. Unless an electric meter is inside, they will not need to enter customer homes.
- During the installation, Pacific Power technicians will remove the old meter, install the new meter, restore service and verify the new meter is working properly. This process will require a brief power outage (less than five minutes). The technicians will leave a door hanger to let customers know they were there, and successfully installed the new smart meter.
- Pacific Power will manually read the newly installed smart meters for as long as it takes to confirm everything is working correctly. After meter installations are complete in the area, meter reading will happen remotely.
- Approximately six weeks following the installation when all area installs are complete, customers can sign in to their Pacific Power account to access the newly available usage data. Customers can sign up for their web account here.
If customers have any concerns, have not received the proper series of notices or have any reason to think a notification is not legitimate, customers should hang up and call Pacific Power’s customer service at 1-800-221-7070 immediately to verify whether they are scheduled for an installation.
Klamath Alerts 5/7/18
