Property owners in North Riverside, Riverside and Brookfield should be getting contacted by ComEd in the next couple of months as the utility begins installation of its new smart meters, which will replace the old electric meters at each home.
Locally, ComEd will begin installing smart meters in North Riverside on Sept. 3, part of its 10-year, $2.6 billion upgrade of the regional electrical grid. According to a press release issued by ComEd on Monday, the company expects to install 60,000 smart meters by the end of 2013, including more than 2,700 in North Riverside, more than 3,000 in Riverside and more than 7,500 in Brookfield.
Installation in Riverside will begin Sept. 18 and in Brookfield on Sept. 22. Meter replacements will be ongoing through
mid-November.
When the entire project is complete, ComEd will have swapped out more than 4 million smart meters throughout its service area.
ComEd has already been trying to get the word out to residents about the impending change. Company representatives recently passed out fliers about smart meters at commuter rail stops.
The new electric meters are digital devices that transmit information using a two-way radio signal, much the way the new digital-read water meters transmit information in all three villages.
According to ComEd, smart meters “provide customers with access to more information about energy use through online energy-management tools that can help customers manage their electrical bills.
The new meters will also eliminate estimated bills, since information is transmitted digitally. Individual meters will no longer need to be read by meter readers, which will also reduce operational costs for ComEd.
