Entergy has implemented this new technology to increase the reliability of our service. This technological advancement emphasizes our commitment to customer-centricity by ensuring we deliver efficient, high-quality services to our customers.

“AI is becoming instrumental in serving our customers,” said Charles Long, Entergy’s senior vice president for power delivery. “This is just the beginning in using the most promising technology to increase efficiency and minimize disruptions.”

Our advanced metering infrastructure is more than just a network of smart meters; it’s a data storage house. The smart meters generate vast amounts of performance data and provide real-time insights into the grid’s performance. By applying AI to this data, Entergy can predict when distribution transformers are likely to fail. This predictive capability is transformative because it enables proactive maintenance that prevents unplanned outages.

Since deploying the AI application to the reliability management teams, Entergy has seen a significant improvement in the reliability of its service. In just one year, this initiative has prevented 536 unplanned outages and avoided over 48,000 outage minutes. These results underscore the power of combining AI with AMI data to enhance grid reliability.

“Combining vast amounts of data from our AMI meters with AI tools allows us to prevent problems before they occur,” said Andy Quick, Entergy’s vice president and chief AI officer. “Although we’re in the early stages of our AI journey, the benefits of the application of AI are already paying off. We’ll continue to integrate AI in our business operations and expect it to benefit both our customers and the company.”

The integration of AI and AMI offers several additional benefits:

• Operational efficiency – AI algorithms automate the detection of irregularities, which leads to more efficient operations and reduced need for manual intervention.
• Load forecasting – Advanced analytics help forecast and plan for peak demand periods.
• Regulatory compliance – This provides timely and more efficient reporting.
• Billing accuracy – The company is providing enhanced data that improves billing accuracy and reduces billing errors.

Improving for our customers is at the heart of this initiative. This work will be planned to minimize disruption to anyone impacted by the maintenance outage, and Entergy will notify customers prior to the time maintenance work is to be conducted.

Long added, “By utilizing this new AI technology, Entergy is setting a new standard for managing reliability. The success of this new program not only highlights the value of innovative technology in the energy sector, but it also promises increased reliability of electric services and enhanced customer satisfaction.”

“We created the total electric concept to position electricity as a safe, efficient and cost-effective choice for modern homes,” said Johnny Ervin, who began his career in marketing and customer service at MP&L in the 1970s. “When houses were total electric, we installed a meter on them with a gold lining in the meter container. A lot of people wanted their gold meter.”

The campaign’s success resulted in the coveted Total Electric Gold Medallion home award, first presented in 1958 to Jackson-based home builder Walter Ferguson. Associating electricity with modernity was a smart idea that paved the way to today’s smart home technologies that use WiFi-connected devices to optimize energy savings.

Introducing energy efficiency

Until the mid-20th century, electricity was mainly used for lighting. But that began to change as the means of producing, distributing and consuming electricity grew more efficient.��With new electric appliances on the market, electricity became a direct competitor with natural gas, which had cornered the energy market for heating.

In Mississippi, energy usage peaks in the summer as air conditioners kick into high gear. After divesting its natural gas properties in 1952, MP&L led a series of campaigns to promote the benefits of electricity and grow energy consumption during off-peak months, which accounted for two-thirds of the year.

“We were trying to increase our wintertime load because we had lots of plants that weren’t running, and we had the transmission distribution capacity to serve our customers,” Ervin says. “Electric resistance heating is an inefficient way to heat homes, generally because it uses a lot more electricity. Back then, new heat pumps used half as much, and summertime air conditioning used about the same.”

As electricity use rose, the cost to produce it fell, creating additional revenue for investors and a cost savings MP&L could pass to its customers.

MP&L’s program to promote efficient energy consumption proved prophetic in two major ways. First, during the 1970s, energy costs surged as an oil embargo gripped the developed world. And the following decade, the concept of conserving energy on a mass scale arrived.

The company’s marketing department stayed ahead of the game with the E3 initiative, or ���ϳԹ��� Efficient Electric, which consolidated efforts to encourage the use of electric appliances and increase efficiency of homes by helping homebuilders and future homeowners during construction design stages.

The primary goal for an E3 home was to keep the loss of BTUs (British thermal units) under a certain threshold.

Keeping more of the heat generated by electric devices inside homes became a major industry focus. MP&L devised new construction specifications to replace the typically drafty, minimally insulated houses common during the era with homes that held consistent temperature in summer and winter. Construction upgrades of added wall, ceiling and floor insulation, and insulated glass for windows improved comfort levels while reducing peak power consumption.

Making the design even more attractive was a new technique that enabled customers to harness the power of the sun passively through windows and flooring by reducing east/west windows while increasing window area on the southern wall to capture the natural warming of the sun during the winter.

An outreach campaign to promote the new specifications among homebuilders was a success, and local home plan designers began bringing the concepts to life with attractive stock plans maximizing the energy efficiency, comfort and appeal.

Making the switch to electric appliances

MP&L also made it easy and affordable for customers to switch from gas to electric appliances. When aging gas water heaters reached the end of their usefulness, MP&L offered to replace them with more efficient electric models for as low as $2 per month to cover appliance and installation costs.

In the following decades as environmental concerns about fossil fuels mounted, the need for energy efficiency and sustainability grew exponentially, with Entergy taking the lead. In 2001, Entergy became the first U.S. utility to voluntarily stabilize its carbon dioxide emissions.

Entergy also continued offering new programs to help customers increase energy efficiency and save money, including and cashback incentives for investing in ENERGY STAR-certified products.

WiFi-enabled technologies such as the help customers increase overall home energy efficiency by shaving usage and saving kilowatts. It echoes efforts the company pioneered in the 1980s and 90s when it deployed mechanisms to residential air conditioners and used a paging network to signal when to shut off a unit, usually for 10 or 15 minutes at a time.��

“Entergy has always leveraged the power of technology to balance customers’ needs with the needs and requirements of the electric grid,” said Tison Reno, ���ϳԹ��� Mississippi’s manager of product and services deployment. “There’s a lot of other technologies coming online, such as electric vehicles and backup generation that can be dispatched and run on the grid to help meet supply and demand. Technology changes quickly, and our responsibility is to stay ahead to bring its value to our customers.”

Have more questions about our meter reading process? Here are a few of the most common questions we receive about meter reader operations.

How do I know that the person in my backyard checking my meter(s) is an Entergy employee?

Our service personnel have an Entergy logo on their shirt. You may also see their truck parked in front of your house with the Entergy logo and name on the side panel. Both our service personnel and meter readers carry a picture identification card. In addition, the meter readers have their company’s name, logo and Entergy’s logo on their shirt with the words “Meter Reader” printed on the back. Their truck will display both Entergy’s and their company’s logo. Should you have doubts, please contact Entergy at 1-800-ENTERGY.

Why is my meter not read on the same day of each month?

Generally, your meter is read on the same day each month. Each meter is allocated to a daily reading cycle. Weather and the seasons may put our meter readers behind schedule. We don’t read meters after dark, so on bad weather days and short daylight days (like in December), or due to limited access to your meter (a locked gate, for example), we may fall a few days behind in making the reading. After the meter is read, the readings are checked to ensure their validity and then approved for billing.

Why does my electric bill sometimes state that it is estimated? What does this mean? How do you correct your estimation errors?

On occasions, we must estimate your meter reading because of a major storm or your meter was temporarily not accessible (locked gate or dog in the yard). Estimation relies on prior usage information and a prediction model to estimate what your meter readings would be under similar circumstances. If your reading was underestimated or overestimated, it will be corrected with the next actual meter reading. Because the meter reading determines your electric bill’s usage and is a factor in determining the billed amount, estimating your usage is what we mean when your bill states it is “estimated.” In rare situations, we may have to estimate your reading if the metering equipment is damaged or malfunctions.

How do you ensure the accuracy of my meter and meter reading?

Our meter shops periodically test customer meters to identify malfunctions that could result in inaccurate readings. Entergy’s regulators require that we test a random number of meters each year. In addition, prior to being returned to service, all meters are refurbished and tested for accuracy. Finally, each month that your meter is read, the readings are compared to previous months and historical readings for verification.

I have a pet in my yard. What will you do to keep them safe while you check my meter?

Our policy is to respect resident animals and work safely. As you can imagine, many of us at Entergy have loved pets in our families. Workers are trained to use different tactics to avoid any confrontation with pets, which is for the safety of the dog and the worker. That said, sometimes an animal gets aggressive, and the employee’s safety is threatened. Our meter readers carry a product called HALT, which is a natural pepper extract dog repellent. It’s commonly used by utilities and the postal service and should only be used to prevent an attack.

While our current system requires meter readers to manually check your meter, we’re in the process of upgrading our systems with new technology to modernize the electric grid. And it starts with advanced metering. Advanced meters are now being installed at customers’ homes and businesses in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. By the end of 2021, the advanced metering infrastructure should be complete across our entire system, which means approximately 3 million customers will then have access to better energy management tools and other benefits. Learn more about the benefits of advanced meters.