You may have heard that North Star has been preparing for a new AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) system. This is welcome news to employees at North Star, as problems with our current system have continually been popping up the last several months, which takes us away from other tasks we should be concentrating on. Our crews will be installing new meters beginning this spring, and full deployment of the new AMI is expected to take up to 18 months. We will be focusing our initial installation efforts, likely beginning in April, in those areas where we are experiencing the most problems with the old system. When the crews are working on the conversion to the new system, they will have less time to troubleshoot the problems with the old one, so we may be relying on our members for month-end readings more than usual. We will attempt to reach out to those members by phone or email if we need an accurate reading. We appreciate your patience while we transition to the new system over the next several months.

We are excited for the many capabilities this new system will bring, which will allow us to be more efficient in both the office and out in the field. For you, the member, the new AMI system will provide dependable information regarding your own energy use, faster outage restoration, and potential opportunities to be rewarded with a lower electric bill in exchange for using electricity more when the demand on the grid is low, and reducing usage during peak times.