As part of our strategic plan, Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative is upgrading the electric meters across our service territory. The new meter installation will begin with a smaller initial rollout in the summer of 2026 and will be completed in 2027. This FAQ is part of a broader information campaign and answers the questions we most often hear from members about meter changes. It covers what the new meters are, what to expect on the day of installation, how the upgrade affects your bill, how your data is handled, and what to do if you have questions or concerns not answered here.
About the project
Blachly-Lane crews will perform all meter installations. This process is not being contracted out. The people visiting your property for this project will be cooperative employees in marked vehicles.
We are committed to keeping members informed about this project every step of the way. In addition to this FAQs page, we are sharing this information broadly with members using emails and postcards. Last, members in each area will be notified directly with an automated phone message when work is estimated to begin in their area.
The upgrade is rolling out in two phases. In summer of 2026, we are replacing 258 meters in the Indian Creek area, our most remote section of the system. In 2027, we will replace the remaining meters across the rest of the system, about 3,456 meters.
The new meter will replace your old meter on a one for one basis in the same meter socket on the outside of your home or business. The new meter uses a Tantalus communication module; the meter itself is sourced from one of several manufacturers the cooperative works with.
Our current AMR system is at the end of its useful life. The equipment we use to read and program the meters has been discontinued by the manufacturer, replacement parts are going away, and we are seeing an uptick in AMR meter failures. Making this change now, on a planned schedule, is more responsible to the membership than waiting for the old system to fail.
AMI stands for Advanced Metering Infrastructure. It is the most commonly used type of electric meter. Like our current Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters, AMI meters read themselves and send the reading back to the cooperative by radio. The difference is that AMI meters connect through a network of nearby meters rather than being read one at a time by a truck driving past. That network lets us collect reads more often, more reliably, and with better information during outages.
Your meter installation
Call the office. The new meter does not connect to the wiring inside your home and should not affect the function of your appliances. If you do notice something unusual after the new meter installation, we want to hear about it so we can look into it.
If there is something the crew needs to know to safely reach your meter, please call the office when you receive your phone notice so we can plan around it.
A Blachly-Lane crew in a marked cooperative vehicle. If you are ever unsure whether a person at your meter is from the cooperative, please call the office before letting them proceed.
Yes, briefly. Because the old meter has to be pulled out of the socket and the new one inserted, your power will be off for the length of the swap, generally under 15 minutes. Consider saving work frequently on computers, checking on any electronics that are sensitive to power interruptions, and planning around any equipment that needs continuous power.
The meter swap itself usually takes about 15 minutes
No. The work takes place at the outdoor meter base. The crew does not need to enter your home or business.
You will receive a direct phone notification from the cooperative with an estimated timeframe before any work happens at your meter.
Your bill
No. Your existing billing arrangements, including the Budget Billing Program, stay in place.
The cooperative is looking into what it will take to implement this. We will share more if and when there is something to share. Please let us know if this is something you are interested in.
In most cases, yes. Under the current AMR system, we sometimes have to estimate a reading and true it up later when the meter is reachable. AMI reads are more reliable, so estimated bills should become uncommon.
Your bill reflects your usage. What AMI does give both you and the cooperative is a more accurate picture of that usage, which ends estimated reads and makes it easier to spot unusual consumption early.
The meter replacement does not result in a separate charge to your account. Your electric bill continues to be based on the kilowatt-hours you use at the rates approved by the Board. Like other system investments, this work is included as part of the Cooperative’s long-term capital planning to maintain reliable electric service.
Privacy and data
No. Meter readings are sent to the cooperative through secure backhaul channels. They do not travel over the public internet.
Only through a valid legal process, the same way they can today.
Usage data is retained in accordance with the cooperative’s records retention policy and applicable Oregon law.
Authorized cooperative staff, for the purposes of billing, operations, and outage response. Blachly-Lane never sells member data.
The new meters measure your electricity use in the same way your current meter does. That is the same measurement your existing meter takes. In addition, the new meters can record the date and time of power outages and blinks.
Health and safety
In most cases the meter is installed in the existing meter socket on the outside of your home or business. A small number of meters are located in other places, such as a garage or basement. The new meter goes in the same location as your current one.
The RF exposure from an AMI meter is a small fraction of the exposure from common wireless devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, baby monitors, and microwave ovens. The meter is also mounted outside, on the exterior wall, rather than next to your body.
Yes. The meter is certified to U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limits for radio frequency (RF) emissions. The radio in an AMI meter operates at a very low power level and transmits only for fractions of a second at a time, generally totaling a few seconds of transmission per day.
Meter accuracy and remote capability
AMI does not change the circumstances under which service may be disconnected. What the remote capability does give us is faster service restoration once a disconnect condition is resolved, and the ability to activate or deactivate service at a move-in or move-out without a separate truck roll.
Yes. Like most modern electric meters, the new advanced meter is capable of remote disconnect and remote reconnect.
Call the office. We can review your usage and, if there is reason to question the reading, pull the meter and test it.
All new meters are tested and certified before installation. The new advanced meter meets or exceeds the ANSI accuracy standard used across the U.S. electric industry.
Opt-out
Opt-out requests are not being accepted under the AMI program.
Four reasons, taken together:
- The equipment we use to read and program our current AMR meters has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Once that equipment fails, we will not be able to maintain AMR meters on the system.
- AMR meter failures are already increasing. Continuing to rely on AMR meters past the transition would put accurate billing at risk for the whole membership.
- Blachly-Lane operates with a small workforce. Maintaining a parallel AMR system alongside AMI indefinitely would pull crews off reliability work, outage response, and system maintenance, which serves every member.
- Maintaining two parallel meter systems adds cost that the entire membership pays. The cooperative would need to keep AMR vendor support, programming tools, and staff training in place even as AMR resources are disappearing in the industry.
Questions for specific kinds of accounts
This FAQ is written primarily for residential and small commercial accounts. Large commercial and industrial accounts will receive a separate, direct communication from the cooperative. If you have a time-sensitive question in the meantime, please call the office.
Please call the office as soon as you receive your area notice. We can talk through the timing of your meter swap and any planning that makes sense for your situation. The actual swap is brief, generally under 15 minutes, but we want to coordinate with you in advance.
Yes. The new advanced meter supports net (bidirectional) metering, which measures both the energy you draw from the grid and the energy your system delivers back. Your net metering arrangement does not change.
The crew can replace the meter whether or not the property is occupied at the time. Notifications will still go to your current phone number or billing address. If the property has access restrictions (gates, bridges, seasonal roads), please call the office after you receive a notice of when we plan to be in your area.
The meter on an irrigation service is upgraded the same as any other meter. Because irrigation loads are seasonal and summer consumption is high, accurate reads are especially useful on these accounts. If your service is in an out of season condition at the time we reach your area, please call the office so we can coordinate the installation window.
Contacting the cooperative
Your questions and feedback are always welcome. Reach us at:
Phone: (541) 688-8711
Email: blec@blec.coop
Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.