the Advanced Metering Program

Advanced meters measure and record the amount of electricity and/or natural gas used in a home or business, just like the electromechanical meters that have been working on homes and businesses for years. Instead of the gears and dials in older meters, advanced meters use digital technology and have no moving parts.

DTE Energy’s advanced metering technology uses a radio frequency (RF) network. RF use is common in various everyday devices such as cell phones and microwaves. In an RF solution, meter data is transmitted by radio frequency and collected by a secure network.

Advanced meters give us the tools to provide better customer service to you and reduce operating expense.

Yes, until installation in your area is complete, a meter reader will continue to read your meter. After that, your meter will be read remotely.

There are no current plans to change the date that the bill is rendered.

DTE Energy is among a growing number of utilities that are installing advanced meters. Other utilities include: San Diego Gas and Electric, CenterPoint, Hydro One in Canada and Southern California Edison.  DTE Energy is one of the largest utilities installing advanced meters. In Michigan, many utilities such as Cherryland Electric Cooperative and Great Lakes Energy Cooperative have already installed advanced meters.

The advanced meter gives DTE Energy the ability to read the meter remotely. Once installation in your area is complete, DTE Energy will no longer need to enter your yard, home or business to read the meter. This will virtually eliminate the number of estimated bills you receive.

You will also have access to up-to-date usage information which will help you track, manage and control your energy use. Also, advanced meters will help us pinpoint outages and respond more quickly.

The advanced meters help us identify and respond to outages faster. Together with new circuitry also being installed, the meters will help us to predict outage impacts, identify trouble and restore and verify complete restoration of an area. However, it will still be important for you to call 1-800-477-4747 and report your outage so that your information can be fed into our outage management system. The advanced meters are only able to inform us that power is out at the meter. We do not know of any other hazards such as a downed wire. For more information on outage restoration, click here. 

Installation depends on where you are located in the DTE Energy service area. DTE Energy will notify you a few weeks before your meter will be replaced or retrofitted. DTE Energy electric meters will be replaced with new meters. In most instances, DTE Energy natural gas meters will be retrofitted with an advanced metering module. In some cases, however, natural gas meters must be replaced. DTE Energy will recycle the glass, plastic and metals from the old meters.

Customers will receive a letter a few weeks before the meter installation is scheduled to take place .

No. If the electric or natural gas meters are outside and accessible, you don’t need to be home when the meter is installed. However, if you normally leave a gate unlocked or keep a pet inside when the meter is read, you should also do so when the advanced meter is installed.

If nobody is at home, the installer will leave a notice hanging on your door to alert you that the meter has been replaced or retrofitted.

Yes. If the electric or natural gas meter is inside your home, an adult must be present at the time of installation.

The installation process is expected to take only a few minutes.

Installation of the electric advanced meter will cause your power to be interrupted briefly when the old meter is replaced with the new meter. Digital clocks and other equipment will have to be reset afterward.  We understand that some businesses and industry cannot be interrupted easily. We will work with business owners to minimize any impact to their operations.

Installation of a natural gas advanced metering module will not cause an interruption in your natural gas service unless a new natural gas meter is required.

The electric meter, gas module and installation is done at no charge to the customer.

The new advanced meters will be digital meters with a blue face plate. In most cases, DTE Energy natural gas meters will be retrofitted with an advanced metering module which is installed behind the dial index of the existing meter.

Normally you will not have to make any changes to your meter enclosure. Modifications or changes to your household wiring and electrical upgrades are not necessary for the installation of the advanced meter.

DTE Energy owns the electric and natural gas meter.

The advanced meters use very low-power radio frequency (RF) waves to transmit your electricity usage data to DTE Energy. Several familiar devices use RF, such as baby monitors, cordless phones and televisions.

In fact, a person standing two feet from an active advanced meter is exposed to up to 1,100 times fewer RF waves than a person speaking on a cell phone. Both of these devices are below federal guidelines. 

Yes. Based on years of study and research, the FCC, together with other organizations such as the World Health Organization, have adopted Maximum Permissible Exposure limits for radio transmitters of all types, including advanced meters. This standard includes a conservative margin of safety, just in case some health effects are too subtle to have been found. Even so, advanced meters operate significantly below the limit.

For more information on RF safety, visit the Federal Communications Commission Web site for radio frequency at http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety/

Cyber security is a familiar concept to the utility industry. We have extensive experience maintaining security on the information systems needed to operate the electrical grid. Installing advanced meters adds a new component to our system, but the meters, communications and information management will be subject to the same Department of Energy security standards that keep the grid secure.

DTE Energy takes information protection very seriously. Protection begins at the meter itself. Specialized meter technology defends against hacking and information is encoded whenever your data is transmitted. Once transmitted, your private information is protected in the same way it has always been, through constant monitoring for evolving threats and system improvements.

Every meter installed has been thoroughly tested and each device is installed by a trained professional. All of our advanced meters are tested for accuracy at the factory, using calibrated reference standards.

For a handful of security systems, the brief power outage may trigger a false alarm when power is restored, but that is unlikely for most homeowners or businesses. DTE Energy will notify local law enforcement agencies about the meter replacement and the potential for increased false alarms in those areas during installation.

All meters, regardless of type, are an extremely low risk of initiating a fire. Customer safety is DTE Energy’s highest priority. That’s why each advanced meter is installed by a trained professional who is very familiar with the installation process and the advanced meters.

Like all electric meters, advanced meters measure the energy used in your home or business. The meter itself has no impact on your electricity rate or your energy use. A report issued in July 2010 by an independent consultant for the Public utilities Commission of Texas said that based on the results of accuracy tests, 99.6 percent of the meters tested were determined to be accurate according to American National Standards Institute (ANSI)standards. The consultant’s research also found that the advanced meters consistently performed better than electromechanical meters.

Your advanced meter does not impose any additional burden to the existing meter enclosure or the wiring of your home.

Glancing at the screen beginning with 004 shows your kilowatt meter reading. The other screens who the meter communicating with the advanced metering system. Watch a video on how to read your advanced meter.

Yes. Both meters will be replaced.

Customers with advanced meters will have the choice of enrolling in an option program that allows them to view their individual usage data on line. This program enables customers to view the data that has been measured by the advanced meter since it was installed. This information can help you reduce your energy use. You’ll also be able to use a wide variety of tools on the dteenergy.com web site to manage your energy use and learn how to save money.

No. there will be no impact on the way you use a generator. 

Actually, you control your usage, not the utility.  Advanced metering gives you more control. Advanced meters do provide more information than traditional meters. Currently, you can obtain the information you need to save money and save energy. As with any service, it’s necessary to measure consumption for billing purposes. DTE Energy records your electric consumption just like your cell phone provider tracks your cell phone use in order to bill you. 

If you have questions about the installation or use of your advanced meter, please call 800-477-4747 or go to dteenergy.com/smartcurrents.