Learn About PSE’s Meter Upgrade Project

February Windstorm

Current update

We understand how difficult it is to be without power. Our crews are out in full force, working through the night to restore power to the over 200,000 customers impacted by yesterday’s windstorm. Our Emergency Coordination Center and local storm bases remain open to coordinate restoration efforts, and we’ve brought in additional crews to help restore power as quickly and safely as possible, bringing the total number of crews in the field to 84.

Even with fallen trees creating issues – closing roads and falling across power lines – crews have made significant progress restoring power to customers since the onset of the storm, with approximately 82% of customers restored as of midnight Wednesday.

Meter Upgrade Project

New technology to improve system delivery

We are updating our electric and natural gas metering equipment across our entire service area. This is a six-year project, scheduled to complete in 2023. The project will involve swapping out almost 2 million meters – 1.1 million electric meters and 800,000 gas modules – along with the supporting infrastructure across all 10 counties we serve.

Why are we upgrading our meters?

Our automated meter reading (AMR) system is approaching the end of its projected lifespan. We were one of the first adopters of digital AMR technology in the country in the late 1990s, making us an industry leader in metering technology during that time. Today, AMR hardware and software are becoming increasingly obsolete, making them difficult to support and maintain.

AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) is the current standard for metering technology and is a crucial step for us. It uses two-way communication and on-board memory (AMR has one-way communication and no memory) to send meter data through a secured wireless network.

Project map and Schedule

Non-Communicating Meter Service