PECO Energy announced that it will immediately suspend installation of its new “smart” electric meters after some local fire officials attributed them to the cause of a handful of recent house fires.
In response to the safety concerns, PECO will also begin replacing some of the installed Sensus model meters with an L&G model starting Saturday to see if it performs differently, spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez said Wednesday. An extensive analysis of the meter data collected so far will be completed before the replacement work begins, she added.
Engel Menendez did not immediately know how many of the 186,000 smart meters installed in Bucks and Northeast Philadelphia will be replaced with the new model.
“We believe that installing the L&G meters may possibly prevent the issue that we’ve had with the overheating in the future,” she said.
Simultaneously, PECO will work with Sensus to develop safety features that will be remotely installed on existing replaced meters, Engel Menendez said.
The first safety feature will automatically shut off electric service if any issue with the meter is detected. PECO will begin installing the feature on existing Sensus meters starting Aug. 26 and it should take five days to complete.
A second safety feature will be available starting Sept. 6 and will include an early alarm signal that will immediately alert PECO if a problem is detected and allow the utility to immediately respond to prevent an escalation, Engel Menendez said. That feature will also take five days to install on existing new meters.
Fire marshals in Bensalem, Bristol Township and Upper Makefield have attributed the new smart meters as the source of a few recent house fires in their communities.
Earlier this week, PECO Energy said it is aware of fire-related problems in 13 meters it has replaced since March, though it maintains the meters are not faulty. In its completed investigations into the fires, PECO found that existing conditions with equipment on the customer’s side can cause the smart meters to overheat.
PECO technicians also have repaired more than 4,500 pieces of meter-related equipment during meter replacements in an effort to reduce any potential fire risks with the devices, Engel Menendez said.
PECO is required to replace the meters of its 1.6 million business and residential customers in the Philadelphia region and part of York County as part of a 2008 Pennsylvania energy efficiency law. The law requires all Pennsylvania utilities to update meter technology to encourage energy conservation.
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