Some people may have heard about the new smart meter project because they are apart of the upcoming roll-out, or maybe just because they have heard of the some 45,000 already installed. Even if you haven’t seen a smart meter, you should soon enough.
“Eventually everyone will get a smart meter, but the deployment will be scaled based on available supply of meters,” stated SaskPower Consultant Joel Cherry in an email to the newsroom.
Cherry made mention of the global shortage of microchips, which is affecting production of electronics such as utility meters as one of the main reasons for a delayed roll-out of the new tech.
West Central Online quizzed Cherry about just how many smart meters would be coming to the west central area as part of the recent announcement.
“We plan to install a total of 58 residential and 19 commercial and industrial smart meters in those areas during January and February 2022. Farmers will be among the first to receive smart meters as they only have manual meter reads once a year, unlike urban residential customers, who have meter reads four times a year.”
The project is costing SaskPower around $120 million, but not at any extra cost for the consumer. The project will begin in January, and the Minister Responsible for SaskPower Don Morgan also says they will distribute the meters as quickly as they arrive.
Tue, May 14, 7:00 PM
