ComEd smart meters coming to six DuPage communities next month

ComEd officials say they will begin installing smart meters in six municipalities in DuPage County next month.

George Gaulrapp, external affairs manager for ComEd, gave a smart meter presentation last week to the Lombard village board. Lombard is one of the towns included in the next installation cycle, along with Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Warrenville, Oak Brook and West Chicago.

"This is going to help people save money, manage your electricity and help with outages, which we hope we have fewer of," Gaulrapp said.

The digital electric meters will replace residents' current analog meters. Once the meters are installed and ComEd updates its infrastructure to a "smart grid" system, information about energy usage and power outages will be transmitted digitally to ComEd.

Smart meters, company officials say, will also provide customers with new ways to track their energy use, from phone alerts when their usage is higher than normal to emails containing information breaking down energy usage each week.

Installation of the new meters will take about 10 minutes and result in a brief interruption in electric service. Gaulrapp said crews will have credentials on them and on their vehicles. He said they will not ask for any money nor do they need to enter a home.

Prior to installation, each resident will receive two letters in the mail explaining what the smart meter is, Gaulrapp added. There will also be a pamphlet with more explanation accompanying their bill and they can expect to see door hangers and receive automated calls a week before they are installed. The installation is at no cost to customers.

For more information, visit comed.com/smartmeter or call (866) 368-8326.