BEAUMONT, Texas — It's installation day for three homes near tram road in Beaumont. Entergy spent last month in Hardin county, now crews have made their way into Beaumont.
Entergy announced earlier this year that all of its Texas customers will receive new meters by 2021.
The meters will help the company identify outages, and respond faster when there's trouble.
"Our remote disconnect, so if there is an issue or an outage, we will be able to serve the customer a lot sooner than sending someone out to do it in person," says Crystal Robinson, supervisor of Texas deployment.
The utility company says they could save more than $60 million over the next 10 years. But what about your family?
Entergy says the power will literally be in your hands.
" (The meters) allow them to monitor their usage and they will be able to log in and be able to monitor how much power they are consuming and makes some adjustments on their end," Robinson said,
Consumers will be able to track their usage through a customer experience portal that is expected to be released later this spring. Rather than waiting to end of the month to see how much energy was used, you'll now be able to check your usage every 15 minutes.
Now, some have raised concerns about the safety of these smart meters.
Entergy says there's no reason to worry.
"I would just tell the customers not the be afraid the advance meters are no more powerful than the cell phone you hold up to face," Robinson said.
The company expects be finish with the Beaumont area by the end of August. Installation process for each meter takes about 15 minutes, during that time you will lose power momentarily.