BUCYRUS — Bucyrus City Council Joint Committees met last night and heard about the new smart meters AEP Ohio will begin installing residentially in late-June to mid-July.
AEP Ohio already has started the project commercially.
These meters will help with outage issues, in which case, nobody will have to call in and report an outage because AEP employees may look at the system and see where the power is out, which eliminates the company’s need to access any resident’s property.
The smart meter will simplify billing by eliminating estimated bills and residents soon will be able to manage and control their energy usage.
Committee members were told customers will be notified two weeks prior to the installation with a mailer sent out, an automated phone call 10 days prior, and a door hanger on the day of installation. Twelve weeks after installation, there will be a postcard sent out.
AEP expects to replace around 6,000 meters, and this will be done by a company called Aclara. The workers will be wearing reflective vests with badges and they will knock on your door before installing.
AEP also will have an app called AEP Ohio: It’s Your Power, that may be downloaded onto any smartphone to see what uses the most energy in a residence and residents may control how much energy is used. When residents sign up through the app, they will be given a free bridge unit.
There are no monthly fees, and they will not be used as demand meters and AEP will not sell any customer’s information.
If residents choose to opt out of the smart meter, there will be a $24 monthly fee because AEP will have to send workers out to a resident’s house to get a reading. If residents originally wanted to have the smart meter but want to switch back, there will be a $43 fee to change to an analog meter.
These meters did raise cyber security concerns for committee members, so anyone with additional questions may search them online or call city hall before they decide whether or not they would like the smart meter.