City Utilities Wants To Replace 25 Workers With Smart Grid Meters

The SN-L's Wes Johnson reports that

Ray Ross, CU director of pricing, said the advanced technology could save the utility $3.2 million a year.

But he said a monthly surcharge on residential and commercial customers' bills would be needed to help pay off the $37.7 million CU plans to borrow...

Twitty noted that even with the proposed water rate hike in effect, the average customer still would pay less than $1 a day for water.

"That strikes me as pretty remarkable," he said.

"I think it's a bargain," added board member Patrick Platter.

Automated metering would let CU more efficiently monitor utility services for outages and leaks, disconnect nonpaying customers with a flip of a switch and eliminate about 25 of the utility's 30-person meter-reading staff.