Beginning this year, Jackson EMC will implement Advanced Metering Infrastructure or Smart Metering to monitor your home's energy usage remotely.

The implementation process, including upgrading more than 200,000 meters, will take approximately three years. This month, a small group of meters will be upgraded to test the technology before the full launch. During the full launch, the cooperative expects to upgrade 5,000 meters each month.

When your house is scheduled for a free upgrade, you'll receive a letter notifying you about two weeks before. You don't have to be at home for the upgrade. If you're at home, the only thing you'll notice is a brief power interruption. We'll leave a note on your door when the upgrade is complete.

During the three-year implementation, you can rely on us to continue delivering you reliable power at the flip of a switch, read your bills accurately and deliver your bills on time.

Here's How It Works

1. Your home's Smart Meter gathers energy usage data hourly.
2. The Smart Meter "talks" to Tower Gateway Basestations (TGBs) on radio towers throughout Jackson EMC's service territory. Most Smart Meters talk directly to the TGBs, but if one has difficulty connecting, it can talk to a neighboring meter that will forward the messages to the TGB.
3. The TGBs communicate this information back to Jackson EMC's computer system, which passes the data to the correct department systems. Billing data goes to the Customer Information System, location information goes to the Geographic Information System and outage information goes to the Outage Management System.

Implementing the Smart Meter program technology allows us to deliver a number of new benefits, including troubleshooting problems before you ever notice them. For more information, visit the Smart Meter page.

Smart Meter Benefits

• Remote meter readings will allow us to read your bill in a timely manner without sending a JEMC representative to your home.
• Remote access shows us if a power outage is related to Jackson EMC lines or something internal before sending a crew to your home.
• We'll help the environment and save gas by reducing the number of vehicles on the road, since in-person readings won't be necessary.
• We can see issues with your service, such as trees hitting power lines, in advance and respond before you notice them.
• We'll be able to determine if your power has been restored after an outage while the crew is still in the area.
• We can troubleshoot energy usage questions from the office.
• Remote access allows us to determine which account is out of power when a member with multiple accounts calls in an outage.