It used to be that if you needed help – with your rent, your gas bill, your grocery bill, or your abusive spouse – figuring out whom to call for that help was nearly as complicated as the problem itself.Beginning next month, NIPSCO will begin installing Automated Meter Reading Systems at customer’s homes to help speed up the process of reading natural gas and electric meters, company officials said Monday.
The new meters will allow NIPSCO to gather monthly readings through a receiver mounted in a company vehicle, rather than having employees walk neighborhoods to read more than 900,000 meters each month, according to a prepared statement from NIPSCO.
NIPSCO will work with Metadigm, a national utility services company, to complete the installations. The two companies will partner with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697 to supply the workforce of about 60 technicians needed for the project.
Customers will receive a letter in advance of the meter change and the installation process should be done in about 20 minutes, the release said. There will be no cost to NIPSCO customers.
Installations will begin in late February in South Haven, Ind., on the state’s northwest side. The new technology is expected to be installed on all meters by 2016, according to the release.
