NYSEG and RG&E reach 700,000 smart meters across upstate New York

New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) have installed more than 700,000 smart meters for electric and natural gas customers in New York.

Installations are occurring at a rate of over 50,000 monthly, with upgrades currently underway in Ithaca, Rochester, Brewster, Sodus, Binghamton, Canandaigua, Lancaster and Hornell divisions, as well as for new builds and meter replacements in other parts of the state.

The two utilities, subsidiaries of Avangrid and part of the Iberdrola group, have committed to installing more than 1.3 million electric smart meters and adding 600,000 natural gas modules for customers in 17 NYSEG and RG&E divisions statewide.

“We’re dedicated to meeting the energy needs of our customers, and building a smarter energy infrastructure is part of that commitment,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO.

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“Not only do smart meters mean a bill based on actual use rather than estimated reads every month, with this recent rash of thunderstorms, we’re seeing improvements to outage response in the areas where they’ve been installed,” added Azagra.

Smart meter upgrades will continue throughout the companies’ service areas over the next two years, with the rollout seeing new smart meters replace existing electricity meters while a communication module is being added to smarten the existing natural gas meters.

The Edison Foundation’s Institute for Electric Innovation has reported that nationally the smart meter penetration was at 77% in 2022 and is projected to surpass 90% by 2026.

In its analysis, Berg Insight reported Avangrid’s rollout as being among the projects contributing to first generation project shipments of up to 7 million units annually over the next two years.

Berg Insight has projected 94% penetration of smart meters in the US by 2029.