Roseville Electric is rolling out new electricity meters. Here’s what customers can expect

Customers of Roseville Electric will get new wireless meters in the coming months as the utility tries to “modernize” its equipment.

As part of a pilot program, about 800 customers will be the first to get the new meters at the beginning of March. The new meters allow the utility to wirelessly send information to the city’s electric and water utilities, said Erin Frye, a spokeswoman for Roseville Electric.

“With this change comes benefits: City employees will no longer need to physically visit homes or businesses to read electric or water meters and we can send commands through the network to connect service and perform maintenance,” the utility said in its website on the project.

In a previous announcement about the meters, the city said the meters would allow for new ways to reduce electricity consumption and could lower customers’ bills. The utilities could, for example, introduce time-of-use rates, similar to those used by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which would encourage conserving energy usage during peak hours.

“We know that systems like these have and continue to be implemented across the country because of the long-term benefit for everyone,” said Sean Bigley, assistant director for water, said in May 2021 announcing the program. “Moving to this technology will one day give access to consumption data in near-real-time for customers so they can then modify their usage to become more water-efficient and save money on their utility bills. It’ll allow us also to detect problems including customer leaks that are sometimes slow and problematic to track, helping us reduce system water leakage and comply with ongoing changes in state regulations.”

Customers who have been selected as part of the pilot program will receive a notification in the mail and a door hanger letting residents know when the work is scheduled to begin.

Electric meters are the first to be replaced, with water meters following shortly after. Replacement of the meter takes about 15 minutes, the utility said, and customers will experience a brief loss of power during the upgrade.

The upgrade will extend to all of Roseville starting in the summer, Frye said. It’s expected to take about a year for all meters in the city to be replaced.

For more information, visit the city’s meter upgrade project site at roseville.ca.us/meterupgrade or by calling 916-774-5300.