EVANSVILLE — Vectren will spend the rest of the year and all of 2018 installing new metering technology that gives customers more control over their energy use, while also allowing them to better respond to power outages.
So-called "smart meters" are becoming standard in the utility industry, according to Vectren. They can securely transfer usage information to Vectren for billing and operational purposes, improving the accuracy of billing and eliminating the need for on-foot visits by meter readers.
The technology will also enable Vectren to pinpoint power outages more quickly.
Residents will not need to be home when their device is installed, but they will be notified before their neighborhood's installation.
Customers will not pay for the smart meter technology immediately, but they will eventually.
Vectren had intended to include the smart meters in a $514 million, seven-year plan to upgrade its electric grid, with customers picking up the cost. The plan was introduced in February.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the plan, which will come with annual customer rate increases, but smart meters were taken out, reducing the cost to $446 million. That action came in September.
Vectren, however, is proceeding with the smart meters anyway because it feels the technology is needed, said Natalie Hedde, a spokeswoman for the utility.
"We're going to go forward with the project, and the costs associated with it are deferred until the next electric rate review," Hedde said.
That probably will occur in the 2023-24 timeframe, "but nothing is set in stone," Hedde said.
More than half of U.S. households have a smart electric meter, according to Vectren. The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility has installed smart meters for services it provides.
Once smart meters are deployed, customers will have access to an online portal where their daily usage data will be available.
"If a customer's usage is trending upward for a particular month, and let's say it's going to reach 30 percent or more than the previous month, we would be able to communicate with that customer, give them that notification, and then they can change the way they use energy in an effort to have more control over their bill," Hedde said. "We know customers want more tools and want more control over their usage, and we're excited to be able to bring that to them."
Customers who have natural gas meters will be equipped with a new encoder receiver transmitter, which will communicate with the electric gas meter. The gas meter will send usage data to the electric smart meter for transmission to Vectren.