ACE Smart Meters Will Enhance Service

COURT HOUSE – Atlantic City Electric (ACE) has initiated an electric meter upgrade project that will replace existing meters with “smart meters” by fall 2024. The smart meter replacement effort is part of the utility’s Smart Energy Network program which ACE calls a critical step in “advancing a clean energy future for South Jersey.”
While much focus on the new meters has been on useful customer service capabilities like immediate access to data reflecting a home’s energy usage or more timely information on service restoration, a major cornerstone of the ACE effort is enhanced reliability. 
In an era of expected increases in severe weather conditions, the utility is working to increase the efficiency of its power restoration efforts. The project also will provide better integration of new energy technologies like solar generation, battery storage and the use of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
The new smart meters will automatically alert the utility to outages in ways that also allow ACE to see the scope of the problem, be it a home, a street or a larger area. Restoration efforts can begin immediately with data to support prioritization. 
The benefits of this future-oriented technology will increase as the energy landscape is altered by both the state’s drive to transition to alternative energy and the growing use of electric vehicles.
For the customer, ACE projects benefits that include improved restoration efforts, especially when no one is home to call about the outage. New tools will give customers online access to real-time energy usage data. This means the customer can strategy usage and decrease their energy bill. 
Improved automatic meter reading will eliminate the need for estimated bills or reading errors. The meters, combined with the smart network, will allow the easier introduction of home clean energy technologies. Customers will also be able to set alerts based on desired high or low energy use thresholds. 
The benefits of enhanced reliability are all part of a multi-year effort by the utility. 
Already, they’ve initiated several projects, from weather-resistant transmission poles to new redundancies in substations that had earlier depended on a single source of transmission. 
The meters and the network make the utility better able to monitor issues down to the individual home. ACE can respond to energy use or delivery issues faster and more effectively and do so in a future where the electricity grid will face greater challenges due to climate change. 
ACE is proud of the reliability of its grid which, as the company’s Public Affairs Manager Ronnie Town noted at the Sept. 6 Stone Harbor council meeting, had no significant outages this summer. 
“Individuals come from companies around the country to better understand how we manage our grid,” Town said. 
And, there’s an app for that. As one would expect, ACE provides an app for gaining the benefits of the new meters and network. There is also a website with more information available on the upgrades and what to do if a home has life-support equipment in it. The site warns that there will be a brief service outage when the new meter is installed. The contractor will coordinate all work with the customer before it commences and customers need not even be home unless special circumstances require it. 
ACE states that there is no upfront cost to the customer. The company does state that the overall cost of the smart technology upgrades to both meters and the network will be spread across the customer base in terms of fees for electric use. The ACE website says the spread of the costs will be “over a period of many years” in order “to achieve the reliability, resiliency and efficiency benefits” while simultaneously “maintaining affordability for customers.”
Thoughts on the smart meters? Email vconti@cmcherald.com.