Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Smart Meter Pilot topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pierson eyes smart‑meter pilot to reduce billing errors and detect leaks
Summary
Council discussed a pilot to install 10 smart meters that can alert both the town and customers to large flows, support remote shutoff, reduce reading and transcription errors, and potentially enable charging per gallon rather than per thousand gallons.
Council members said recurring billing errors, manual meter reads and auto‑draft mistakes have caused staff headaches and occasional large, erroneous charges; one council member noted a recent auto‑draft error that withdrew $39,000. Rob and other members argued a smart‑meter pilot of 10 meters could produce automatic reads, reduce transcription errors and produce leak alerts that would prevent large bills.
Rob described the pilot’s goals: include a cross‑section of accounts (new and old meters, high‑use and problem accounts, and meters hard to read or near water), compare pilot reads to legacy reads, and evaluate whether per‑gallon billing would be more accurate. He said vendors claim new meters report to 0.01 gallons and can send alerts at high flow rates; staff will proceed with pilot selection and look for grant or funding opportunities to replace meters where feasible.
Council did not authorize a purchase at the workshop but directed staff to continue the pilot planning and incorporate pilot findings into proposed ordinance revisions related to forgiveness and hookup fees.
