Wisconsin Regulators Approve SWL&P’s Plan to Enhance Customer Service

New meters will enhance experience and save customers money

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) on Friday approved Superior Water, Light, and Power’s (SWL&P) plan to give customers more control over their energy and water use and their bills, minimize monthly visits to homes and businesses, and improve billing accuracy.

A five-year plan has been devised to replace aging analog meters with advanced digital meters. Once the advanced meters have been deployed, options for energy conservation and efficiency incentives that customers cannot access with older meters.

Residential customers generally are billed for energy based on how much they use, not when they use it. These advanced meters would allow SWL&P to eventually include a time-of-use option on bills that better reflects the cost of providing electricity, which equals savings for customers.

The advanced meters also improve safety and reliability through safety, leak, and outage notifications that will help SWL&P quickly alert customers and restore service.

SWL&P plans for meter installations to proceed in phases, with more than 30,000 new meters to be installed by the end of 2020.

Because SWL&P provides electricity, natural gas, and water, some customers may receive as many as three new meters as part of the project.