(Submitted/SaskPower)

By Cam Lee

Smart meters

SaskPower installing smart meters in Melfort area

Jul 21, 2025 | 2:53 PM

Homeowners in the Melfort area could soon see some activity around their properties.

SaskPower is currently installing smart meters in the Melfort region.

Spokesperson Joel Cherry told northeastNOW notices about the smart meter installations were sent out to residents recently, and they hope to have all of them installed by September.

He said smart meters are an integral part of the modern power grid.

“Having a smart meter means that we are able to get power usage data in real time,” Cherry explained. “The bills that you get are accurate, and there’s not going to be any need for true-up bills which is the case if you have a legacy meter.”

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In those cases, SaskPower is reliant on estimates until the meter can be read by SaskPower employees or the homeowners themselves, and then adjustments are made to ensure the power usage is accurate.

“[Smart meters] are also useful because we can tell if an outage happened in real time,” said Cherry. “In places where there are no smart meters, if a power outage happens, we need our customers to call in and let us know.”

Smart meters allow SaskPower to dispatch crews to work on the outage right away rather than having to wait for outage reports from the public.

During the installation of the smart meters, the power will be turned off in your home for about 15 minutes. Postcards have been sent out informing residents that SaskPower will be in the community to install the meters. Once installed, the smart meters will begin working immediately, and residents will have access to power usage data within a couple of days, allowing them to receive information about their usage and ultimately make choices to reduce power consumption.

Cherry said about one-third of the smart meter installations have taken place so far. SaskPower had to pause the installation program a couple of years ago due to a shortage of microchips. The program has restarted, and Cherry said the amount of time it takes to get all of the meters installed will depend on a steady supply of meters. SaskPower expects that to be complete within a few years.

You can click here for more information on the smart meter program and what to expect during the installation process.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com