Rock Hill’s utility system gets upgrade with e-meter

City utility customers could get a little help saving money on their monthly bills once Rock Hill launches a new e-meter reader.

The Rock Hill City Council has approved a $15.5 million lease-purchase agreement for “advanced metering infrastructure” and a “meter data management system.”

Once fully launched, officials hope it will allow both the city and customers to better monitor water and electricity usage – and use that information to save a little money.

Under the current system, city meter readers can collect information on each household’s usage rates only once a month, which doesn’t give the city or the customer any insight into how they use their services within that month, deputy city manager Jimmy Bagley said.

With the new system, he said, “the electric meter will read every five minutes, and the water meter will read every six hours, or four times a day.”

Each meter will have its own Web page, where both sides will be able to monitor usage constantly, looking for any unusual spikes that might indicate a water leak or a power outage, or track patterns that might help customers decide how they can save money.

With that much data available, customers also won’t have to wait for a monthly meter-reading to pay their bill, allowing them to choose a pay date that best matches their own cash flow.

The system will also offer a remote connect and disconnect option, which will allow water and power to be turned on and off much more quickly.

“That means if you forget to pay your bill, and you realize it when you get home at 2 a.m. and the lights are off, you can pay online and have them turned right back on,” Bagley said.

At the same time, any breakdown in the utility system could be relayed to the customer immediately by text or email. If someone using a pre-paid plan goes over their set amount, they could be notified before they rack up a month’s worth of overage charges.

The system will be rolled out in stages, with 1,000 pilot homes receiving the smart meters by May. If those work well, another 6,500 homes will be outfitted with the meters by October. By March 2017, Rock Hill plans to have meters in place for all 35,000 water customers and 37,750 electric customers.

Officials expect to pay off the 10-year loan with a mix of increased revenue and savings they expect to get from implementing the system. They estimate the equipment will last 15 to 20 years after installation.

Tantalus Systems Corp. was the preferred vendor approved by the City Council, but Bagley said multiple vendors will likely contribute different components to the system.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Rock Hill’s utility system gets upgrade with e-meter."