Paid for by Eversource Energy
The smart choice: How smart meters empower families and businesses to take control of energy use and costs
This post was paid for and produced by our sponsor, Eversource Energy, in collaboration with WBUR’s Business Partnerships team. WBUR’s editorial teams are independent of business teams and were not involved in the production of this post. For more information about Eversource Energy, click here.
When it comes to your monthly budget, planning and control are key: you can’t manage your money successfully without being able to predict how much you’ll spend on essential expenses. When you fill up your gas tank or add groceries to your shopping cart, you have a good idea how much it will cost because the prices are right in front of you.
But when it comes to electricity, many of us don’t know how much we’re using until we get that monthly bill, and if usage skyrockets in a given month due to high heat or other factors, it can be an expensive surprise.
The good news? There’s a high-tech solution that Eversource is rolling out across Massachusetts. The Commonwealth is taking a smart step forward by embracing smart meters, which are innovative digital devices that will shine a light on how you’re using electricity in your home or business. They also offer benefits like enhanced reliability and faster restoration during outages.
Eversource is supporting the rollout of smart meters statewide, beginning in homes and businesses in Western Massachusetts this summer, and supporting installations in Eastern Massachusetts communities next year.
Over time, smart meters will provide near-real-time data about your energy usage. That type of insight and transparency is critical to take control of your energy bill. It means you can see exactly how much electricity you’ve used and what your bill is likely to be at any given time, not just at the end of the billing cycle. Smart meters allow families and businesses to take a more active role in managing their energy costs, whether by setting up high-usage alerts or estimating their bill based on current trends.
Information is power — and with more information about your usage, you’ll have more power to identify culprits for high energy use in your home or business much earlier. For example, if your energy use suddenly spikes and nothing else has changed, it could be a sign that you have an appliance that’s malfunctioning. Or, if you install a new appliance, you can immediately see how it impacts your overall usage. For anyone looking to conserve electricity, smart meters provide valuable feedback on the energy efficiency steps you’ve taken and which actions are making the biggest impact.
The benefits of smart meters extend beyond the home or business. The data provided by smart meters helps Eversource to identify any failing electrical equipment. That means they can replace it before it fails, helping to reduce the number of outages.
Beginning next year, smart meters will also automatically notify Eversource of power loss, instead of relying on customers to report outages.
The collaboration to bring smart meters to Eversource customers across Massachusetts shows the state’s commitment to innovation and support for a more resilient energy future. Smart meters empower customers to track their usage and take control of it, which may help lower energy bills. Transparency is a good thing, and smart meters have the potential to transform how we all view and use electricity in our daily lives.
Paid for by Eversource shareholders