Smart meters are coming to the customers served by Xcel Energy in eight states in the Midwest and the Southwest. The Minnesota-based company announced this week it entered into an agreement with Itron to secure the meters to install across its system.
Xcel Energy has 3.6 million electric and 2 million natural gas customers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
The company said the installation of the smart meters will enhance grid reliability and improve response time to outages. The announcement indicated the installation will take place over the next five years.
“This collaboration is exciting because we’re not just developing the next generation of smart meters,” said Brett Carter, Xcel Energy’s chief customer and innovation officer, and executive vice president. “Combining forces with Itron allows us to work together on new applications to benefit our customers and build the electrical grid of the future.”
