Dive Brief:
New Jersey regulators on Thursday approved Public Service Electric & Gas plan to install 2.3 million smart meters across its territory, creating a more modernized distribution system that will allow for real-time customer communications and help to lower the utility s operating and maintenance (O&M) costs.
PSE&G says total expenditures for the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program are approximately $778 million, including $707 in capital investment and $71 million in O&M expenses.
Upgrading electric meters is a key step in PSE&G s plan to create an energy cloud that can provide near real-time outage detection, help customers use energy more efficiently, and integrate with new in-home technologies like Amazon s Alexa.