In January, National Grid will kick off its two-year deployment of smart meters across western New York.

This will give its customers the ability to monitor and control energy use for homes and businesses. The move follows successful deployment of more than 450,000 electric meters in central and eastern New York. In western New York, approximately 4100 customers will receive new meters.

The company’s initiative to replace meters nearing their end of lifespan with modern smart meters provides customers with additional control and near real-time insights about their energy use.

“Smart meters are the foundation for modernising the grid and delivering on evolving customer expectations and demands,” said Mike Mokey, National Grid’s director of advanced metering infrastructure. “Customers can choose how much to interact with their new smart meter as they enjoy benefits from the wide range of features, including detailed information about energy use, and the ability to have the meter instantly notify National Grid when there’s a service interruption at their home.”

After the initial 4100 western New York customers receive their smart meters, the company will continue the gradual deployment in other parts of the region until 2027.

Smart meters offer continuous access to energy usage data, so users can make informed choices. The technology will provide information about when and how energy is being consumed, which can provide insights to make decisions about managing consumption and increasing energy efficiency.

“Customers will be able to monitor their usage throughout the day, seeing when and where energy is being used,” Mokey said. “For instance, customers can see which appliances are consuming energy in their homes and the impact that they have on their bills. This level of information will help them make informed choices that can save them money, such as the best times of day to run their appliances.”

Currently, National Grid customers have their meters read monthly by radio frequencies transmitted to trucks that drive past the properties where they live or work. These meters are approaching the end of their lifespan, which offers National Grid an opportunity to implement technologies that improve customer control, support energy efficiency and provide real-time outage data. According to industry data, 80% of meters deployed across North America have smart technology capabilities.

The smart meters that National Grid is installing are compliant with FCC regulations and emit less radio frequency than mobile phones, laptops, baby monitors or other devices. The meters will communicate wirelessly with National Grid’s control centres through a secure network. This encrypted data will help National Grid pinpoint locations of outages and whether the issue occurred on customer-owned equipment or on the company’s network.

Customers will receive information approximately 60 days in advance of when their meter is expected to be installed. Up until the installation date, National Grid will be in contact with customers via email, phone and postal mail. Installation dates with approximate times will be provided up to two weeks in advance. Customers do not need to be on site to meet installation crews if their meter is located outside of the home or business. They will have the ability to reschedule if their appointed date and time is inconvenient for them. Elderly, blind and disabled customers and those with approved life-support devices will have the ability to set appointments for their meter installation.

Installation of the initial 4100 meters will be completed by National Grid crews. Future installations will include contractors from Utility Partners of America.

Smart meter installation for electric customers requires a short power outage that should last only a few minutes to remove the old meter and install the new one.

To learn more about National Grid’s smart meter programme, visit nationalgridus.com/Smart-Meter.