(Submitted/SaskPower)

By Cam Lee

Smart meters

Melfort residents to get SaskPower smart meters

Jan 7, 2025 | 8:48 AM

omes in the Melfort area will be the next to have SaskPower smart meter installations.

SaskPower media relations spokesperson Joel Cherry told northeastNOW crews have been in Nipawin and Cumberland House the past few months, and work will soon take place in Melfort.

“We’re going to begin smart meter installations in Melfort in February, and we plan to have them complete there by September,” Cherry explained.

Notification cards have been sent in the mail to customers in Melfort to indicate that SaskPower will be upgrading to smart meters in the area.

Cherry said customers will experience a power outage of about 15 minutes while the meters are changed over. He added that there will not be advance notice prior to installation, as it just isn’t logistically feasible. Instead, crews will do the work and leave a door-hanger. Once the installation is complete, the meters will begin to work immediately.

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“We encourage all of our customers to sign up for the My SaskPower account and you can find detailed information about your power usage there,” Cherry said. He added it will likely take a couple of days after installation to access that information.

One of the benefits of smart meters, according to Cherry, is that customers will only be billed for what they use. The meters accurately track power usage, which means no more estimated power bills.

Cherry said the smart meters also provide detailed information about power use, which can help customers conserve power and save money.

SaskPower will also be able to identify power outages more quickly with smart meters and respond in kind.

“To date, if the power goes out somewhere, we’ve had to have customers call into our outage centres to let us know,” Cherry said. “When smart meters are rolled out, we’ll see outages occur in real time, and that will help us respond quickly.”

Smart meters are being installed across Saskatchewan, and Cherry said all customers will ultimately have one.

“We have about 81,000 residential smart meters out there now,” Cherry explained. He said it’s a huge task replacing power meters province-wide, and SaskPower is taking the installations in a staged approach.

Cherry said smart meters are an industry standard and they’re an important part of a modern power grid.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK