Dakota Electric Association is in the process of upgrading meters in an effort to provide even better service to the members of the electric cooperative.

Anixter, which is under contract with Dakota Electric, will be working primarily in Lakeville, Burnsville and Apple Valley over the next several months to change out meters. Vehicles are identified by the Anixter logo as well as a Dakota Electric logo. All meter technicians also have work vests with a Dakota Electric logo prominently displayed on the back and will work Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Postcards are being mailed a few weeks in advance to those whose meters are scheduled for change out at this time. The technician will knock on the door to notify the homeowner that the meter will be changed out, but all work is done outside the home. There is no need for the technician to enter the home. In some cases, there will be a short outage while the meter is changed out, but the meter exchange should only take a few minutes. All technicians will follow COVID-19 safe practices while notifying the homeowner of their presence on the property.

Besides meter change outs, those who are on Dakota Electric’s load management programs will have new load control receivers (LCRs) installed. Powerhouse Electric and Dale Franke Electric are the contractors doing the LCR change outs on behalf of Dakota Electric. They are working in the Lakeville area this year.

More information about the advanced meter project is available on Dakota Electric’s website: www.dakotaelectric.com/meters. Those with questions may also call 651-460-7499 or email meters@dakotaelectric.com.

The new meters will provide many benefits, including replacing aging infrastructure, increasing system efficiencies, improving outage notification and restoration and providing more energy information for members.

The advanced meter project will continue through 2021, and members will be notified by postcard before their meter is exchanged.

A customer-owned, nonprofit utility since 1937, Dakota Electric provides electricity to more than 109,000 members throughout Dakota County and portions of Goodhue, Rice and Scott counties. Dakota Electric is a Touchstone Energy cooperative.