Banning Utility Customers To Be Outfitted With New 'Smart Meters'

BANNING, CA — Customers of the Banning Electric Utility will soon be getting a meter upgrade. The City of Banning is set to begin the implementation of its two phase Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. AMI is commonly referred to as “Smart Meter” or “Smart Grid” technology.

Smart Meters will allow the Electric Utility to do remote meter reading, as well as start and stop service remotely. This means that, in most cases, meter readers will not need to access a customer’s property to complete these services. In addition, Smart Meters will ensure the most accurate and reliable customer usage data is being used to process utility bills.

“Utilizing smart meters will further enhance the service we provide to our customers,” said Electric Utility Director Fred Mason. “Having this technology in place not only allows us to read data more accurately and remotely, but also allows for the future implementation of systems which will provide our customers with real-time utility billing information.”

The first phase of the AMI project consists of replacing all of Banning’s old mechanical electric meters with the new state-of-the-art Smart Meters. Smart Meter installation is scheduled to begin the week of September 5th and will take approximately six months to complete throughout the entire City.

A door hanger will be placed at customers’ properties to provide them with a one week notice of when meters will be installed at their location. Customers do not need to be present for the installation as long as the existing meter is accessible. There will be a brief power outage between when the old meter is removed and the Smart Meter is installed. The process to remove and install the new meter should only take a few minutes and power will be restored immediately.

Customers with questions regarding the smart meters should call the City of Banning’s Electric Utility at (951) 922-3260.

— SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION BY: City of Banning