National Grid is introducing innovative ways for customers to control their energy usage. At the company’s “demo house,” employees showcased a new app that provides real-time information on power consumption within a home. Mike Mokey, National Grid’s head of advanced metering infrastructure for New York, explained that the app can track individual appliances and identify phantom power, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of a home’s energy consumption. This unseen energy usage often goes undetected by customers, who may believe they have turned off devices but are still drawing power.
The new technology is part of National Grid’s installation of smart meters, with over 170,000 already in place in Onondaga and Cortland counties. The installation process will continue in the Mohawk Valley, Oswego, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties before moving on to the Capital Region and western New York. In total, approximately 1.6 million electric meters will be replaced. Alberto Bianchetti, the regional director of external and customer affairs for National Grid, stated that the smart meters will eventually be able to alert the company in case of a power outage.
In addition to installing smart meters, National Grid has been conducting outreach to educate customers about the new meters. Customers will receive a 60-day notice before the installation in their area followed by more information a week before the installation. The installation process itself will only disrupt power for approximately five minutes. Bianchetti emphasized that the transition to smart meters is seamless for customers. National Grid anticipates that customers with smart meters will be able to utilize the tracking technology later this year.
