LG&E, Kentucky Utilities Company to request approval for full deployment of advanced meters

Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU) announced Wednesday that they plan to request approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission of a “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” to install 1.3 million advanced meters across their service territories.

The utilities currently offer an Advanced Meter Early Adoption program to interested customers.

“These meters offer our customers a host of benefits, including more detailed usage information to help them better manage their energy consumption, and faster restoration times,” David Huff, director of Energy Efficiency and Emerging Technologies, said. “We’ve learned a great deal about advanced meters through the pilot programs we’ve offered over the years. Today’s advanced meters are much more sophisticated than those ten years ago, and we are receiving positive feedback from customers who participate in our current early adopter program.”

The companies requested full deployment of advanced meters in late 2016 but withdrew their request and formed a collaborative group of representative customers to gather input and information on their needs.

The collaborative included representatives from low-income groups, the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, Kentucky Industrial Utility Customers, the Kentucky School Board, Louisville Metro Government, Lexington-Fayette County Government, and the Sierra Club. The group met monthly from July through November and created a plan to address questions and concerns from the numerous groups.

The coalition discussed costs, data privacy and data empowerment, opt-out options, and remote service switch operations associated with the meters.