Eversource Ready to Bring 'Smart Meters' to Connecticut Customers

CONNECTICUT — Eversource Energy officials Thursday said the utility is "ready" to bring "Smart Meters" to its Connecticut electricity customers.

Advanced Meter Infrastructure is designed to capture "valuable information" in order to "improve service to customers and increase energy savings."

AMI smart meters, Eversource officials said, provide several new capabilities that enable customers to better understand and control their energy use and bill. The new technology also provides automatic, real-time information to Eversource when a power outage happens, eliminating the need for customers to report the outage and enabling the company to respond and restore the power interruption more quickly outside of a major storm, officials said.

"In the world of electric meters, this is like replacing an old flip phone with a smart phone," Eversource Senior Vice President of Customer Operations, Digital Strategy and Chief Customer Officer Jared Lawrence said. "These smart meters are far more advanced, functional, and useful to both customers and the company. They enable customers to see their usage information in real time — including how they use power, how much they use and at what times of the day —giving them the ability to take steps to reduce their energy consumption and bill."

Eversource's proposal has multiple aims, leading with the need to balance smart meter implementation with customer affordability, the need for "ready and willing" collaboration among all stakeholders to maximize the benefits of the program, and the recognition that this technology serves the state well in reaching its goals to fight the devastating effects of climate change.

With the current electric meters across the state nearing "the end of their useful life," conditions are "favorable to engaging on the quickest, efficient pathway to accomplish these goals for Connecticut customers," officials said. The energy company started implementing AMI in Massachusetts earlier this year and is prepared to work with regulators to make this program a reality for Connecticut customers.

"We’re excited to bring this technology to our Connecticut customers," Lawrence said. "We are ready, we have the expertise and the team to do it and we look forward to finalizing a plan with PURA to roll this out to our customers here, so they can begin benefiting from it like our customers in Massachusetts soon will."

The AMI technology also paves the way for Eversource to collaborate with state regulators and other regulated electric operations companies to establish a new rate structure that would allow for costs to be based on peak times and lower usage periods. Customers would also be able to set usage and bill alerts, letting them know when their bill reaches a certain dollar amount or a certain kWh usage, so the customer could adjust accordingly.

More on the AMI system can be found on the Eversource Advanced Metering Infrastructure page.

Eversource transmits and delivers electricity to 1.28 million customers in 149 cities and towns, provides natural gas to 251,000 customers in 74 communities, and supplies water to approximately 217,000 customers in 59 communities across Connecticut.