Turning ‘Dumb’ Meters ‘Smart’ | michiganstopsmartmeters

The market for retrofitting mechanical meters with optical sensors to give smart functionality is growing.

In December 2014, Metering.com reported that US utility Hawaiian Electric is trialling a retrofit real-time energy monitoring tool that fits onto a standard analogue meter.

The state’s largest utility plans to fit about 80 PowerCost Monitors, made by Blue Line Innovations, which use an optical sensor to provide real-time data through the cloud to homeowners.

Gene Wang, chairman and CEO of People Power, which provides the cloud technology, said:  “The [PowerCost Monitor] slides over your regular meter, [and it] either reads that spinning disk or it reads the pulse, then transmits the information into our cloud and back to our Presence Pro Energy Application.”

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