Pepco begins installing new “smart” meters for all of the utility company’s Maryland customers this month.

As of yet, there is no timetable for when Pepco will install the new meters in the various communities that it serves, says Pepco spokesperson Andre Francis.

 The new smart meters are digital replacements of the older analog units, Francis says. 

And, for right now, the new smart meter will be “just a meter”—there will be no additional benefits that often come with a smart meter, such as reduced electricity rates for off-peak usage to encourage customers to shift some activities requiring electricity (such as using the washing machine) to off-peak hours so as not to overwhelm the region’s power grid.

But, “as time rolls on, (we may be) able to start giving the extra data benefits that come along with digital” meters, Francis says.

Pepco customers will be contacted if they will need to be at home when their new smart meters are installed. For most customers, the installation will take place in the same way that a Pepco employee comes to read the meter—quickly, and without any need for Pepco to go into the home.

“As long as the meter is accessible, we can go in and change the meter,” Francis says. “If it’s not accessible, we’ll have to make an appointment with the homeowner.”

Homeowners can prepare for the installation by making sure that their electrical meters are not blocked by overgrown shrubbery or locked fence gates.

Pepco has contracted Scope Services to perform the new smart meter installations. Scope Services employees will be driving white vehicles with Scope Services and Pepco signs on the vehicles. Scope Services employees will wear blue shirts with the Scope Services logo on the shirts, tan khaki pants and photo identification badges, according to a Pepco press release.

All of the new meters are to be installed by the end of 2012. Stay tuned to Patch to learn when your neighborhood's meters will be scheduled for the switch.