ComEd Smart Meter Installation To Start In Joliet

JOLIET, IL — ComEd will begin smart meter installation in Joliet this July during what representatives for the company described as the "tail end" of the program's rollout. Mike McMahan, vice president for the utility, said about 35,000 of the planned 57,000 smart meters will be installed this year, according to the Times Weekly. Since the program — aimed at modernizing the electrical infrastructure in Illinois — started in 2012, ComEd has installed 3.5 million smart meters in Chicagoland.

The company has said smart meter installation should be complete by 2018.

Smart meter installation is also beginning next month in Plainfield, where McMahan told village officials homeowners will be notified with an insert in their monthly bill 90 days before installation and receive a postcard 60 days in advance, plus a letter 30 days prior to installation. Ten days before installation, homeowners will receive a robocall. If no one is home when a ComEd installer arrives and the installer can access the meter, he or she will complete the installation, McMahan said.

Homeowners can also refuse smart meter installation. Those who opt out will be forwarded to a customer service rep who will try to address their concerns, McMahan said. Those who still say no will eventually see an $20.53 charge on their monthly bill to cover the cost of paying meter readers, he added. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

In some communities, smart meter installation has drawn opposition from residents amid health concerns and reports of fires.

In nearby Naperville, the city paid a $117,500 settlement to a resident after she was arrested while recording police and ComEd installers as one of the devices was placed on the home of a Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group member.

At a Plainfield village meeting in May, McMahan said installations will be done by uniformed ComEd workers in company vehicles. All installers will have ComEd badges, he said.

"We encourage everyone to always ask to see (the worker's) badge," he said. If the worker doesn't have a badge, "Close the door, call the police — it's not us," McMahan added.

Smart meters will replace existing analog meters, transmitting energy usage to ComEd via radio six times per day. McMahan said the radio is on for less than five minutes per day, transmitting less 125 times less radiofrequency than a cell phone.

McMahan touted benefits of smart meters, which will allow homeowners to check their daily usage to manage energy consumption, sign up for "real time rates" to take advantage of late-night energy discounts and more.

He said customers can help installation go more smoothly by unlocking access gates and keeping dogs inside, according to the Times Weekly.