Central Vermont Public Service Corp. and Green Mountain Power Corp., are planning to convert their traditional meter reading system to what's called in the industry smart metering.

Instead of one of the company's meter readers coming to a home or business, the high-tech meters automatically read the amount of electricity used and transmit that information back to a central location.

"The remote control afforded by automated metering will allow us to increase energy conservation, better manage peak usage, provide more timely, accurate reading and billing, enhance our storm restoration efforts, and potentially reduce customer costs,"

CVPS President Robert Young told stockholders at the company's annual meeting last week.

Young said the changeover to automated metering is scheduled to begin in 2010.

CVPS spokesman Stephen Costello said converting the 175,000 meters to automated remote metering will require an investment of between $25 million and $28 million. The upside, Costello said, is significant future savings.

He said the number of meter readers would eventually be reduced from the current 47 to 20 or fewer. Effected employees could be offered other jobs in the company, Costello said, adding that a certain number of meter readers will always be needed to perform installation, repairs and maintenance.

The head of the union that represents CVPS workers said the company has involved the union in the process.

"We negotiated the ability for these people to move within the organization in the last contract," said George Clain, president of Local 300 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. "The company has kept us in the loop on a monthly basis at labor-management meetings."

Beyond their meter reading job, Clain said workers are also capable of performing other tasks. During the recent storm, for example, they assisted line crews in restoring power.

Green Mountain Power Corp. is also moving in the direction of smart metering.

Mary Morris, Green Mountain Power's customer service manager, said the company has already installed automated metering in 35,000 homes in rural areas, including Vergennes and Addison. Information on meter usage is transmitted via radio frequency to meter reading trucks in a particular neighborhood, Morris said.

Morris said GMP has also started a pilot project in Winooski using more sophisticated smart metering using two-way communication that will send and receive information to monitor load and customer usage, provide customer information, and help the company with outage issues.

"We're hoping to expand in the Chittenden County area this year," Morris said.

While savings from the elimination of manual meter reading "usually constitute the single greatest benefit" for utilities, according to the Edison Electric Institute, there are several other benefits.

With smart metering, a utility can instantaneously get a handle on customer usage to better manage peak load requirements. The system, also known in the industry as advanced metering infrastructure or AMI, allows customers to better manage their electric usage. It also could encourage more customers to opt for time-of-day rates.

"This could give more customers potentially the impetus to sign up for a time of day rate where they pay a very low rate for off peak and a higher price for on peak," Costello said, "and this could give them a price signal when peak loads rise to when to use power most conservatively."

In the case of power interruptions like the recent wind storm, Costello said the new metering technology can pinpoint more accurately where a power outage has occurred and how many customers have been affected. In turn, that will allow the company to quickly restore power, he said.

"This could help us get an almost instantaneous view of things very quickly and that can be helpful in determining where you're sending crews, how many crews you're using, how many crews you need to bring in from outside," he said.

And while the current meter reading system is 99 percent accurate, Costello said the automated metering system will ensure even greater accuracy.

The Department of Public Service also likes the idea of smart meters.

In addition to the cost savings and other benefits utilities will realize, smart meters also benefit consumers by enabling real-time pricing, said Richard Smith, deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Service.

For example, Smith said a smart meter could turn off a high-energy use appliance during times of peak electrical demand.

"That's lowering the need for energy at that time and also we're able to price energy so you're actually paying for it at the time of use as opposed to ... a fixed price over their monthly usage of energy," said Smith, whose department represents ratepayers.

The Edison Electric Institute lists several technologies that can be employed as part of a smart metering system:

n Manually using a handheld terminal with an infrared optical probe that would pick up data from a meter.

n Employing a "drive-by" system where a vehicle passes within a few hundred feet of a meter, picking up data via radio.

n Using phone lines, cell phone or two-way pager to transmit data from a meter.

n Transmitting data over the utility's fixed private network, via radio or power line.

Morris of GMP said the company was looking to employ a system that uses wireless, power line cable, fiber, cell phone. "Whatever works for that remote area," she said.

She said a monitor displaying information would be installed inside home and business.

Morris said GMP expects to have smart metering installed for its 92,000 meters within three years. She added that the company is training its 15 meter readers to take on new responsibilities to work in different areas once smart metering is implemented.

She said the technology should provide cost savings for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Like GMP, Costello said CVPS is likely to employ multiple technologies throughout its service territory. For example, he said one technology might be more feasible in a city while another technology would be better suited in sparsely populated areas.

Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com.