Automated electric meters get approval

PME also allowed a ‘monopoly’ over the city’s distribution

Painesville City Council has unanimously approved a measure that will switch the city’s electric utility meters to a wireless system.

The Aug. 19 decision means all analog electric service meters will be replaced with a networked automated metering infrastructure.

At a previous meeting, city manager Monica Irelan Dupee addressed the related costs.

“We budgeted $4 million for the (Automated Metering Infrastructure) system and a new financial system,” she said. “Phase one of the implementation will be approximately $2.6 million.”

Of that $2.6 million, $1.4 million will be spent on the actual electronic meters. The remainder is tied to network infrastructure and installation, field tools and installation, data export development testing and automation, project management and professional services.

Phase two is slated to begin in 2021 and requires $250,000 for financial software installation. Ongoing yearly costs would run $140,000 with a 3%

escalation cap. Despite the costs, Painesville Municipal Electric Superintendent Jeff McHugh says, “We’re looking at improved cash flow from the reduced time in meter reading to the actual billing.”

Council approved another PME-related resolution at the Aug. 19 meeting. The legislation gives PME authority to serve as the exclusive electricity provider for residents within the city. McHugh stated that a provision in the Ohio Constitution outlines their authority to effectively serve

as a monopoly and that the council resolution was a means to mirror this legislation at a local level.

“This is a housekeeping ordinance to close that gap and explicitly state that we are the sole provider of electricity to the city of Painesville,” he said.

Dupee said the legislation informs outside electricity providers that “not only does the Constitution of the State of Ohio say it’s our right, but we explicitly, locally reserve the right to be a monopoly within our own corporation limits.”

The resolution was fast tracked as an emergency measure to be voted upon first reading where it received unanimous approval from council.