Meter Reader’s Computer Also Saves on Dog Bites

When meter reader Rene Benavides of Alhambra approaches a house these days, he knows instantly whether there is a vicious dog on the property, or a not-so-friendly owner. It is all done with a computer.

Benavides is one of a number of Southern California Edison Co. meter readers in the western San Gabriel Valley who are making their rounds with the help of a 2 1/2-pound microcomputer that improves accuracy and cuts costs, company officials say.

The hand-held computer was introduced to meter readers in a pilot program in the company’s Ontario district last summer. It has been used for four weeks in the Montebello district, which includes Monterey Park, Alhambra, Rosemead, San Gabriel, El Monte, South El Monte, Montebello and the City of Commerce, and in a separate district in Orange County.

Officials say the device will be in service throughout Edison’s 50,000-square-mile territory by April. The utility serves all or parts of 17 counties in Central and Southern California and all of the San Gabriel Valley except Pasadena.

In addition to the projected 540 microcomputers to be used to read the 3.4 million meters, the system includes computerized support equipment located at Edison facilities. The system and equipment were produced by Itron Inc. of Spokane, Wash., and purchased by Edison for $3.5 million.

The microcomputer, named Datacap, replaces a manual, handwritten system using cards and paper forms to record meter readings. With the new system, meter readers record electricity usage figures and time of the reading. Datacap is preprogrammed to tell the reader the location of the meter and any special conditions, such as a vicious dog on the premises.

“The computer saves the company money by improving accuracy,” said Mike Stephens, supervisor of customer service systems. “It automatically will request a verification of the figures if the data entered varies substantially from previous readings. This can save having to make a return trip to a home to confirm a meter reading.”

Each Datacap is powered by a rechargeable battery and all of the data collected is recorded on a mini-cassette tape. Each day a new cassette on which names and addresses of customers on a route have been recorded is issued to the meter reader.

When the reader arrives at a home, he calls up the name and address of the customer on a small screen on the computer. The numbers on the electricity meter are entered into the computer by pressing numerical keys. The information is recorded on the cassette tape.

From a meter reader’s standpoint, Benavides said, he likes the computer because it is rainproof, solving problems caused during the rainy season with the use of paper cards.

Edison said it has had no resistance from employees to the new system. Potentially the biggest objection was the fact that the computer records the time each meter is read and therefore the performance of the employee, officials said.

Employees were introduced to the system last May with a booklet explaining not only the microcomputer but how the entire system works.