Smart Meters: A Long Awaited Win for SWBNO and Customers
By: Rebecca Malpass, Director of Policy and Research
SWBNO’s new smart meter covers. Photo Credit: Axios
In 2022, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) announced plans to install smart meters across the city to ensure more accurate meter readings and bills for customers. This year, SWBNO is making good on that promise. Over 24,000 meters have been installed, with plans to continue installing approximately 700 to 2,000 meters each week, depending on weather, and 70,000 meters by the end of the year. It is worth noting that hurricane season could delay some of this work. SWBNO currently has 24 installation crews operating throughout the city. The remaining meters, about half of the total, will be installed in 2025.
The SWBNO says they are focused on installing smart meters simultaneously across all five Orleans Parish districts so as not to concentrate the number of smart meters in one particular neighborhood or district at a time. You can find a map on the SWBNO website showing where smart meters have been installed and where they will be installed over the next three months. The SWBNO is also committed to increasing communication with customers regarding delinquent bills, water conservation measures, and the smart meter system. These processes should ensure more equity and transparency; a win the SWBNO desperately needs.
SWBNO Smart Meter Installation Map
Once a smart meter is installed, a customer will begin to receive accurate monthly bills – no more estimated billing! By early September, according to the SWBNO, customers with smart meters will be able to download a user-friendly app, register their account, and access all of their account information, including how much water they are using. Customers will even be able to set an amount of money they can or plan to spend on water bills each month and receive alerts when their bill is anticipated to exceed that amount due to usage. This is an added layer of financial planning for customers.
Smart meter systems will be able to generate accurate readings every hour. This will enable both customers and the SWBNO to understand a property’s water usage, with information on peak hours or weeks of usage, and create opportunities to proactively address a customer’s water challenges and needs.
The SWBNO says they will use nine separate metrics to ensure smart meter readings and bills are accurate on the back end. With this accuracy comes the risk of increased bills for customers. Outdated meters, which are manually read, do not always capture every drop of water a property uses. Smart meters will. The SWBNO anticipates a 10% to 25% increase in monthly bills for its customers. To lessen the “sticker shock,” the SWBNO will cap a customer’s first smart meter bill at 120% of the customer’s average on their previous 12 bills. This will also give customers some time to plan financially for future bills and address any leaks or activities, like lawn watering, that may be impacting their bills.
SWBNO Smart Meter Responding to Customer Needs
While some city officials and residents are skeptical of the SWBNO’s new smart metering program, this program, if implemented correctly and equitably, is good for both the SWBNO and customers. The Water Collaborative is encouraged to see progress at the SWBNO on behalf of residents and businesses. In addition, we will continue to advocate for the SWBNO to establish an affordability program for customers who are financially burdened by their monthly water and sewer bills. If the SWBNO is going to hold customers accountable for every drop of water used, the SWBNO needs to be accountable for the financial strain that water treatment costs create for some of their customers.