ELECTRIC UTILITY CURRENT PROJECT:
In October, 2009, the Board of Trustees of Denison Municipal
Utilities (DMU) approved a project that would replace all residential,
commercial and industrial water meters in Denison. This project will
help DMU account for water losses and ultimately reduce them. Not only
is water loss a concern based on prudent and efficient uses of our
natural resources, it also significantly increases the cost of water
treatment thereby adversely affecting water rates. As of May, 2011, all
water meters have been converted.
Therefore, in January, 2011, the Board of Trustees approved another
meter exchange project, this one directed toward the electric meters.
Again, the main advantage of changing the electric meters is that
efficiencies, bill timing and measuring accuracies will be gained by
using state-of-the-art digital, electronic meters vs. the older
gear-driven meters. These new electric meters will also provide
real-time consumption data that could assist a customer with tracking
when electricity is actually used. They will also assist DMU by
providing system demand information so any trends of high usage can be
monitored and if possible, corrective actions implemented, thereby
keeping electric rates as low as possible.
Another advantage to having new electric meters in the system will be
the ability to read both the electric and water meters remotely via one
radio signal. No longer will a DMU employee need to walk to every
premise and location to get a reading. Instead they will be able to
drive through town and receive the consumption readings as they pass by
a home or business. Again, once the electric meters are all changed,
expected in January, 2012, the radio-read process will shorten the
billing cycle, provide more accurate readings and will allow the DMU
employees to expand their work duties to other activities.
DMU thanks you in advance for your cooperation in helping us improve the
operational efficiencies of both the water and electric utilities in
Denison. We pledge to make this final meter conversion process as
painless and with as little intrusion as possible. If you have any
questions about the process or with any problems encountered during the
conversion, please contact the DMU office at 712-263-4154.