In an effort to predict and diagnose power outages and lower customer bills, Entergy Louisiana is installing advanced meters in Baton Rouge until 2020 for its 160,000 electric customers and 95,000 gas customers locally.
The city will see gradual deployments of the meters each quarter, starting this quarter in south Baton Rouge, then north Baton Rouge, followed by the eastern part of the city and finally in West Baton Rouge Parish. It’s part of the company’s broader initiative to ultimately install $330 million worth of meters throughout the state over its 15-year lifespan.
While more than half of electric customers in the U.S. already utilize similar meters, Entergy Louisiana is entering the game late, laying the technological foundation for the meters over the past six months. Why now?
Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO, says it got to the point where the benefits of upgrading the meters—including recent technological improvements and the operational savings associated with sending less trucks out to power outage sites—outweighed any potential financial burden on Entergy or its customers. Statewide, it’s expected to yield a net benefit of $190 million to Louisiana’s 1.1 million customers.
Moreover, says May, the advanced meters save customers money by allowing them to see their estimated, dollar-for-dollar power usage in 15-minute intervals. They also have the option, he adds, to set alerts when they reach a certain threshold.
“If you’re curious about your air conditioning, you can access an online portal using your account information, and see how much energy you’re using,” May says. “It allows customers to know what their bill will be before we send it.”
The company also recently took action on one of its planned grid modernization efforts, buying the output of a 50-megawatt solar power plant to be built on 560 acres of land near Port Allen.
