Meter Reading

That means, on average, our meter readers examine more than 500 meters, walk up to 12 miles and encounter numerous dogs each day. That translates into approximately 19,000 meters read every day.

Even more impressive is their accuracy. In 2006, they read 5,964,979 meters with an accuracy rate of 99.93 percent. That breaks down to an error rate of 0.07 percent. Errors are caught through an internal review process and corrected on the next business day in most cases.

Meter readers are more efficient reading their routes when access issues are limited. We encourage customers to unlock gates (or provide a key), put dogs up on scheduled read dates (shown on the back or your bill) and remove any obstacles blocking the meter, such as vehicles and shrubs. Your help makes our meter readers' jobs easier and helps ensure the accuracy of their readings. In cases where meter readers feel unsafe conditions exist, they may not enter a property to obtain water, natural gas or electric reads. They will leave a meter reading card for the customer.

Surprisingly, our meter readers encounter various methods of power theft each month that produce unsafe conditions. These conditions are a danger for all customers and workers. If you know or suspect someone of power theft, please call 448-4800.

Meter Reading Facts

• Meter readers can read accessible meters from up to 40 feet away with the naked eye. They can read up to 160 feet away with binoculars providing there are no obstacles.
• For every 100 houses, meter readers encounter more than 60 dogs.
• We assign cycles and routes to approximately 13,000 new service points yearly and maintain more than 6,000,000 existing service points.
• Meter readers input over 400,000 meter reads each month.
• If a walking meter reader worked every day for one year and walked 8 miles per day, he or she would have walked the equivalent of a round trip from Colorado Springs to Minneapolis, Minn.
• Meter readers are issued a Bite Terminator, an umbrella-like product that does not harm dogs, to ensure their safety from dogs while reading a route.
• Meter readers are also trained on the proper use of pepper spray - although our goal is to never use it. Meter readers will exhaust every measure possible before using the pepper spray, which is most commonly used to prevent serious injury from an aggressive dog threatening bodily harm. In the event personal security is threatened, meter readers may use the pepper spray to defend themselves.
• Many residential customers have water meter pits, often located just to the left or right of the driveway. During periods of heavy snow, you may see meter readers in your front yard looking for buried water meter pits.