What’s smart about this utility meter?
Whether the power goes out in an entire city or a single house, the local utility company will immediately be alerted — no call from the customer required.
Hastings Utilities is looking to get on board with the “smart meter” movement as the Nebraska Public Power District aims to convert all meters in the state to smart meters by 2015.
Smart meters operate on a smart grid system that communicates between the customer, HU, substation and transformer.
Phasing out analog meters enables utility companies to do remote meter reading instead of having to send out employees to read the meters manually. They also allow customers to pre-purchase kilowatts and let the customer know how many of those pre-purchased kilowatts have been used.
To read more, see Thursday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
