Problem with my gas meter reader

[bassin_bug]

We have one of those new "fang-dangled" type of power meters that the guy can read while driving past the house. The day they installed this new type, the guy said the power company could read my meter from 2 miles away. The last time I was at my home in Alabama, the meter reader told me that Alabama Power Co. was getting ready to replace the old type meters with this same type. I am electronically challenged but wonder if it has some type of GPS device on it.

[ElectricSLT]

They do not have GPS in them - just a very low power radio - it sends an ID number and KWH reading which they will match up with your meter & account. I don't believe they could read it two miles away . . .

[bassin_bug]

I don't believe they could read it two miles away . . .

Well, blow me down, Popeye! All I know is what the guy said; he was installing them and hadn't made his first run to test the distance; just quoting what his supervisor had told him. He seemed excited about the ease of reading meters without having to dodge Pit Bulls and wasp nests. lol

[RoadToad]

Interesting idea, a GPS on a power meter. Well, I guess if someone stole the meter, they'd know where it went. I don't see what other purpose one would serve. I mean, they already know where your house is, right?

[harryprocraft]

it is amazing how fast LG&E reacted to my complaint with the energy commission! it took 7 to 10 days to get the meter re-read last month, LG&E recieved my complaint yesterday and is sending an accuracy superviser to re-read and investigate! either it was frankforts involvement or it was the wave 3 troubleshooter whom i also contacted. but IF it fixes the problem OH WELL, no company wants bad press!!

I have heard of the drive by readers too, my question is with some houses close enough together to spit on how can they not get it screwed up??? I know that LG&E uses some sort of sub-contractor to read meters! possibly different company different quality guidelines all the while the consumer suffers! thanks for all your replys and next month we will see if the problem is really fixed!

[RoadToad]

I have heard of the drive by readers too, my question is with some houses close enough together to spit on how can they not get it screwed up???

The way they would keep them straight is like ElectricSLT said, part of what it transmits is an ID number that is unique to each house. I'm not familiar with the system, but I imagine it works like the MAC address of a computer network card. No two of them in the world are the same (supposedly), and each individual packet of data that gets sent contains that address. So no matter what direction the transmission comes from, it's "tagged" with that number (a string of hexadecimal characters), so there's no confusion about which house it came from.