# Utility Meters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533 "2005-10-30T01:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/1 "2005-10-30T01:21:32Z")
In a large, crowded urban environment, such as NYC, how does the power company (or water, for that matter,) read the hundreds of thousands (if not millions,) of different meters before the billing period runs out? It would seem as if there would have to be a huge squad of meter readers to handle the caseload. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/2 "2005-10-30T01:35:25Z")
I don’t know a lot about meter reading in NYC but I would guess that number of meter readers depends on the size of the city. It isn’t an absolute number. Also, a new trend that will only continue to grow is automatic transmission of meter readings over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/3 "2005-10-30T01:44:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Also, a new trend that will only continue to grow is automatic transmission of meter readings over the internet. I haven’t seen a meter reader drive up to my house for several years. Our residential electric meters are read thru the power lines. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/4 "2005-10-30T02:12:38Z")
They now have electronic meters that can be ready from a car passing by. As far as old-fashioned meter readers in a large city: the meters tend to be close together, and you can do an entire building in a few minutes merely by standing in front of them all and writing everything down. What you lose in reading multiple meters, you gain back in travel time (it would take longer to read a dozen meters in a dozen different houses on a suburban street than to reat two dozen meters for the 24 residents of an apartment house). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/5 "2005-10-30T12:38:09Z")
Another thing that many utilities do to save money reading meters is to not read them every month. They skip some months and interpolate inbetween. This can cause hiccups in your bill. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/6 "2005-10-30T13:17:44Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Another thing that many utilities do to save money reading meters is to not read them every month. They skip some months and interpolate inbetween. This can cause hiccups in your bill. It has always been the case in the UK that the meters are only read every three months. Even that has slipped now. Many times you get an “estimated reading”. If you want to correct this, you can either phone-in your own reading or do it on-line. I think the law states that an actual physical reading by the utility company only has to take place every two years. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/7 "2005-10-30T16:22:50Z")
Plus not all meters in a city are read at the same time, the billing period for customers are spread out over the month. ---
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utility-meters/328533/8 "2005-10-30T23:24:01Z")
Down here in SC, our meters are read monthly, and it even tells you down to the minute when the meter is read. They still do it manually here, although there is some kind of handheld device the numbers are punched into. I presumed there had to be some kind of remote monitoring in more populous areas.