The Jefferson County Public Utility District (PUD) is working on a plan to replace outdated electric meters that may not be calculating power consumption accurately.

The PUD has budgeted $800,000 for the project in 2017. The process of replacing the meters is estimated to take roughly three years, even if it starts in the late summer, and the total cost could reach $4 million.

Jim Parker, PUD manager, explained to The Leader that a citizens advisory board had recommended a year ago that the utility’s existing meters be replaced with more advanced models, in part because of the number of outmoded meters by multinational meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr that are still in service throughout the county.

“Originally, Landis+Gyr provided us with meters for $100 apiece,” Parker said. “They were contracted to replace them, but when that couldn’t happen, they started retrofitting them for $150 apiece. Why do that, when you can get brand-new meters for $85 apiece?”

Over the past three years, Liberty Lake–based technology company Itron has replaced close to 1,800 meters, which Parker estimates would account for about one-tenth of the PUD’s total meters.

If Itron is awarded the contract to replace the remaining meters, the company would have that much of a head start, but if not, then Itron’s meters would also have to be replaced by whichever company does receive that contract.

Parker explained that the PUD could put out a request for bid, a request for proposal or a request for qualifications. Different types of requests apply for the replacement of equipment hardware versus program software, and Parker noted that the PUD does not want to violate state-proscribed processes.

During the PUD’s Jan. 3 meeting, Commissioner Wayne King pointed out that customers could see additional costs as a result of new meters, since older meters tend to underestimate power usage.

“We want our customers to be aware of this, so they don’t get sticker shock,” King said.

Commissioner Jeff Randall, in his first meeting since being elected, sees the proposed meter replacements as an opportunity to educate the public on all aspects of their meters, starting with what the meters do and how they do it.

Parker and Kenneth Collins, commission board president, went further, calling for a coordinated information campaign to answer any potential questions from the public through the press.

One issue that drew concern during the meeting was how the PUD might handle outmoded meter bases.

Parker elaborated that a meter base is the point at which it attaches to the private property.

“Where those circuits hook into the system, we don’t own that box,” Parker said. “We’ll install the meter into that base, but it’s not our property.”

Parker cited the findings of Kevin Streett, PUD assistant general manager, that fewer than one in 100 bases would need to be replaced.

“Before, we weren’t sure what condition many of the bases were in, so we worried, ‘What if we have to tell our customers that half of them are no good anymore?’” Parker said. “Over the past three years, though, Kevin has found very few cases where it’s even an issue.”

During the meeting, Randall framed the question of who should pay for the bases’ replacement as being flexible.

“Obviously, we can’t charge some people to replace their bases, but replace others for free,” Randall said. “Beyond that, it’s more a question of fairness than legality.”

After the meeting, Parker also clarified the differences between automatic meter reading (AMR) systems and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems, the latter of which is often referred to as “smart” metering.

“AMR is basically what we have now,” Parker said. “It sends messages out and lets us read meters remotely. AMI would let us disconnect power remotely and allow people to pay by credit. With a new system, we would allow customers to opt out of AMI, because a lot of people are worried about Big Brother, but we would probably charge them for the extra expanse of having to manually read their meters.”

The commissioners agreed to try to have preliminary drafts of media statements ready for a Jan. 17 meeting.