Smart meter installs begin.
NSP installing technology throughout regional municipality
SYDNEY — Nova Scotia Power continues to roll out its smart metres across the province including within Cape Breton Regional Municipality communities.
All homes or buildings in Sydney, North Sydney, Sydney Mines, New Waterford and Glace Bay will have their current analog or digital metre replaced with a smart one.
Work began in the CBRM on Monday and will continue into spring 2021.
Nova Scotia Power spokesperson Steve Pothier said once the meters are installed provincewide they can be turned on.
The smart technology's two-way communication system allows people to speak with the meters, through a secure Wi-Fi connection that is not the customer's.
That means NSP can know in real time when a home or building has lost power and Pothier said this should result in faster restoration times for customers.
"Take for example a major storm, like hurricane Dorian for instance, we're hopeful this will help us increase our response time," Pothier said.
"And because we can see in real time where there is a power outage and when it has
been restored, we can move people quickly and effectively to outage locations. A shorter response time means a shorter outage time."
Pothier acknowledge there is some backlash to the smart metres online and some people don't want to have them installed.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there (on social media sites), information from unreliable sources. Our view is we just want customers to have accurate informa
tion," Pothier said.
"Information from reliable sources will tell you smart meters are safe, secure and accurate. They will have many
benefits and we have faith customers will see this."
Pothier points people to the NSP website for accurate information about the smart meters they're using. On the website it says the technology has been approved by Health Canada, Measurement Canada and Underwriters Laboratories.
Customers who are sure they want to keep their current meters and not try a smart meter can opt out of the program.
Pothier said customers can opt out by calling customer services, going to the website nspower.ca or calling customer service.