The Oak Ridge Electric Department is gearing up to bring the city's power grid into the 21st century with an upgrade that will see the installation of new digital meters across its service areas starting this week. For customers, this means a brief interruption in service – expect your lights to flicker off for no longer than approximately five minutes as they switch out old meters for these smarter units.
According to the city's announcement, the new digital meters are designed to do more than just record electricity usage. They are part of a broader effort to create a more efficient and responsive energy system. The meters eliminate the potential for human error in manual readings and can automatically notify the utility of issues, helping improve service reliability. They are also equipped to immediately detect power outages, allowing for faster response during storms or service interruptions.
