MERRILLVILLE – Estimated bills for NIPSCO customers could soon be a thing of the past, as the utility has announced it will begin upgrading the way it reads natural gas and electric meters through the installation of an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) System.
The new AMR meters will allow NIPSCO to gather monthly readings through a receiver mounted in a NIPSCO vehicle, rather than walking door to door to read more than 900,000 meters each month.
Adopted by many utilities across the country, AMR meters differ from “smart meters,” which transmit information through a wireless communication network. The AMR receivers collect only meter readings; personal account information is not collected.
NIPSCO has selected Metadigm, a leading national utility services company specializing in metering services, to complete the installations. NIPSCO and Metadigm have elected to partner with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) – Local 697 to supply the workforce of approximately 60 technicians needed for the project.
The new technology will be installed on all meters across NIPSCO’s service area by 2016. Installations will begin late February in South Haven. The schedule for the remainder of the rollout has yet to be determined.