Wisconsin Power and Light Co. will begin installing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for customers in western Dane County, including parts of Madison, Fitchburg, Middleton, Verona, Mount Horeb, Blue Mounds and Belleville. This will take place over the next several months.

AMI uses remote two-way wireless communication to retrieve detailed customer energy usage information. “AMI technology will provide improved customer service, reduced overall costs and create a platform for future opportunities,” said Barbara Siehr, vice president of Customer Service. “Customer benefits include reduced need to access customer property, reduced number of estimated bills and better outage information with quicker power restoration.”

Since information is gathered more often, customers can benefit from additional time-based pricing programs to manage their energy use and costs in the future. It will also allow WPL to better forecast energy needs during peak times and improve overall efficiency.

Alliant Energy has contracted with VSI Meter Services to perform the majority of the installations. Those crews will be working in western Dane County and surrounding areas throughout the next several months. Electric meters will be replaced, which may cause a brief interruption in electric service. Customers will be notified by mail prior to their scheduled installation.

Meters will continue to be manually read until the new AMI system has been tested and is fully operational in these areas.