By MADDY VITALE
Atlantic City Electric continues installing new smart meters for its nearly 565,000 customers across South Jersey.
Installations began this month in Ocean City.
On Friday, Atlantic City crews installed a smart meter outside a home at 32nd Street and Central Avenue.
The resort will have a little more than 13,000 meters at both residences and businesses, by the spring, said Amber Burruezo, regional communications manager for Atlantic City Electric.
The goal with smart meters is to achieve reliability, resiliency and efficiency, while maintaining affordability for customers, she said.
“It is all about improving reliability for our customers. We want to provide clean, safe energy,” Burruezo said. “These upgrades are a key element of Atlantic City Electric’s Smart Energy Network, the company’s efforts to create smarter and more resilient energy infrastructure to minimize the impacts of more frequent and powerful storms, while providing new tools and programs to help customers save energy and money.”
The entire installation throughout South Jersey began in September and continues through 2024.
It took technician Sam Miller just minutes to install a smart meter outside the residence at 32nd Street and Central Avenue.
Kim Camp, senior project construction manager, watched as Miller installed the meter and said they work continually throughout the day to put in the meters.
“We are putting in 1,400 meters a day, with 35 technicians and six supervisors,” Camp noted.
There are many benefits to the smart meters for second homeowners, Burruezo pointed out.
“Seasonal residents of the shore communities and barrier islands will likely see a lot of value in the My Account feature that will be made available because of the smart meters,” Burruezo said.
She continued, “It will help create visibility for outages if you are not there, as well as the ability to see hourly energy usage even when you are not on site. This can be valuable for homeowners who have vacation rentals at their property. Putting a smart meter in empowers the customer.”
New upgraded smart meters provide:
- Enhanced reliability with faster and more efficient power restoration efforts.
- More detailed outage information when outages occur.
- Tools that can help customers use energy more efficiently and save money.
- Reduced need for estimated billing.
- Better integration of new clean energy technologies, such as solar.
Upgraded smart meters come with many advantages for customers, including enhanced reliability, more timely and accurate information during outages and new tools to further benefit South Jersey residents, according to Atlantic City Electric.
Smart meters, which are the same size and shape as existing analog meters, will also connect customers to a variety of clean energy choices, including installing solar energy, participating in robust energy efficiency programs and accessing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Customers will receive several continuous communications prior to their smart meter upgrade that will provide additional information about the upgrade process and the benefits that smart meters and the Smart Energy Network will provide.
The transition to smart meters plays a role in Atlantic City Electric’s existing workforce development programs.
Atlantic City officials say the installation project creates jobs for field technicians and support personnel that the utility has worked to bring to South Jersey communities since 2018, when it joined a consortium of workforce development boards and vocational schools in a six-year, $6.5 million education program to fill next-generation energy roles.
To learn more visit atlanticcityelectric.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/AtlanticCityElectric, and on Twitter at twitter.com/AcEleCconnect. Atlantic City Electric’s mobile app is available at atlanticcityelectric.com/MobileApp.
