Smartmeters Coming To College Station Utilities Electric Customers, But Not To Water Customers

42,000 mechanical electric meters owned by College Station Utilities will be switched to remote radio controlled smartmeters.

The more than $9 million dollar conversion and $600,000 dollar annual cost of operations was approved at the last city council meeting.

Because funding for the capital project began in 2015, there will be no electric rate increase.

The switch will begin in the summer of 2019 and take three years to complete.

Meantime, the council decided against spending $12 million to convert 27,000 water meters to the radio controlled system.

Interim deputy city manager Dave Coleman reminded the council that would require a third increase in water rates in a two year period.

 

Coleman also reminded the council the replacement of 5,000 water meters that were under reporting consumption was delayed by a year and a half due to manufacturing defects.

But councilman James Benham was surprised to hear Coleman say 2,000 of the under reporting water meters were replaced with mechanical meters that can not be converted to the new technology.

 

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