Columbia Gas meters going high-tech

Columbia Gas of Ohio Inc. is taking the temporary guesswork out of customers’ bills with a multimillion-dollar program to install automated meter reading devices for its customers. The Columbus-based utility said it will begin installing the devices this month and continue the work over the next five years. Columbia spokesman Dave Rau said the company expects to spend about $82 million on the project, a slice of a $2 billion, 20-year infrastructure improvement plan state regulators cleared through a rate increase approved in December. Columbia, which has about 1.4 million commercial and residential customers in the state, expects to install the devices for all residential customers and all but a few thousand businesses.

Those who won’t have the devices installed, Rau said, are typically larger companies that already have an electronic metering device. The device is powered by a long-life battery and eventually will allow Columbia to drive by monthly – meter readers now canvass every other month – and pick up signals without leaving the vehicle. Installations will begin in northwest Ohio and customers will be notified before work is performed in their areas, Columbia said. The chief benefit for customers in the new program is the elimination of estimated use, which Columbia bills every other month and later adjusts. For some customers, that can lead to a bill that’s either too high or too low. “That causes issues for some folks,” Rau said. Columbia also expects installation efforts to create some jobs in the state as the utility’s contractor hires to supplement its work force.