EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD will begin installing “advanced meters” sometime in late summer or early fall, starting in Moses Lake. The goal is to have all PUD customers hooked up to the new meters by mid-2018.

Implementation is expected to cost about $14.9 million, slightly less than the original estimate, said Trung Tran, the PUD’s telecom engineering supervisor. The meters are projected to provide savings of about $21 million over 10 years, he said.

Tran gave an update to PUD commissioners at the regular commission meeting Tuesday.

The new meters will communicate electronically. They will be more accurate in measuring electrical use, and can be monitored remotely.

That should reduce the incidence of meters slowing down or breaking down, Tran said. The system should make it easier to catch people tampering with the meter or stealing electricity, and make it easier to identify problems before they become serious.

In answer to a question from commissioner Bob Bernd, Tran said the system can track electrical use in detail, day-by-day use being an example. That information will be available to customers who contact the PUD, but not directly accessible to customers, at least not yet. That capability could be added over time, Tran said.

The advanced meter technology also allows meters to be turned off and restarted remotely, he said. Commissioner Tom Flint, a farmer who uses an irrigation system, asked if the remote shutoff would be installed on irrigation systems. Tran said for the remote shutoff capability would be restricted to customers using 200 amps and less.

Installation will start in the Moses Lake area and proceed “south-southeast,” working around the county, Tran said.

Customers can opt to have the meter read manually, but will have to pay an additional fee. Utility district employees are conducting a study to determine those costs, said Chuck Allen, PUD public information specialist. "We're going to pass those costs (for manual reading) on to the customer," Allen said.

The system is designed with multiple levels of security, Tran said, and the company conducts periodic tests to ensure its encryption and other security measures are up to date.

Commissioners will be asked to approve a contract for the system at the June 28 meeting, with installation beginning before the end of September.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.