A three-month long project to install remote read electric meters throughout the city of Poplar Bluff is underway.
Just over 1,300 of the meters have been installed with nearly 8,400 to go, the Municipal Utility Advisory Board was told Monday afternoon.
The advisory board voted against creating a policy that would allow residents to opt out of the remote read system.
Only three residents had expressed interest in opting out and all three have since agreed to participate, said general manager Bill Bach.
The approximately $1.8 million-project will allow the electric department to read and shut off meters remotely.
The new system also will notify workers of power outages immediately, explained Bach and Lyndell Coleman, electric department superintendent.
There are four staff members who will get an email from the system every 30 minutes for as long as the power is out to a meter, Coleman said.
Without the remote read system, customers have to call the utility to notify staff of single outages, he said.
"The outage management system is going to be really nice for us," Coleman said.
Workers from Anixter Inc., of Delaware are completing the installation.
A photograph of the meter reading is taken before any equipment is removed from each house, Coleman said. A second photograph is taken when installation of the new meter is complete.
The photographs contain longitude and latitude information for each address.
The utility is keeping any meter five years or less to retrofit to the new system.
Approximately $1.8 million was spent in 2016 to install remote read water meters.
The utility will pay nearly $30,000 in annual fees for maintenance and technical support for the remote read system.
Member Sam Schalk and city council representative Ed DeGaris voted on the opt out policy. Member Wayne McSpadden served as chairman for the meeting, with members Bob Christian and Tucker Davis absent.