Duke's 'smart grid' meters begin in Oxford !!!!!!!!!!!!

BY STEPHANIE MILES • ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR • FEBRUARY 18, 2010

OXFORD - The first stop for Duke Energy's smart grid technology - which will give the company instantaneous energy information - is this college town.

"With it being a college town, a lot of students and residents here are high tech," said Tim Abbott, director of government and community relations for Duke. "This will benefit the customers, company and environment."Duke installed its first digital electric meters Thursday at 313 N. College St., home to Miami University students. The company said 6,000 residential electric meters will be installed in Oxford by May.

The smart grid technology will offer remote meter reading, record daily energy use and be linked to Duke's power delivery system, Abbott said. The digital electric meters will save labor costs and eliminate the need for estimated bills. Also, remote service connections and disconnections will eliminate the need for scheduling appointments.

Customers will have online access to view their hourly and daily energy usage to make wiser decisions and avoid billing surprises, Abbott said.

Since people move in and out of the college town throughout the year, Abbott said the new technology will reduce disconnect and reconnect hassles and will improve power outage response times.

Duke plans to spend about $1 billion over the next five years on smart grid technology in Ohio, Abbott said.

The benefits will not start immediately but Oxford residents should see improvements after the installation process is completed in May, Abbott said.

"It's great to be on the cutting edge of technology," said Doug Elliott, city manager of Oxford. "We're excited about it."

For more information on smart grid technology, visit the www.Duke-energy.com/smartgrid or www.smartenergynewsroom.com.