City of Camden Energy Efficiency

New smart meters set to improve Camden's water and electricity services

Camden residents will soon see changes to their water and electricity services as the city moves forward with installing smart meters in its utility system.

CAMDEN, S.C. — Camden residents will soon see changes to their water and electricity services as the city moves forward with installing smart meters in its utility system.

City officials say the new technology will improve billing accuracy, leak detection, and customer engagement by allowing residents to monitor their energy and water usage in real time.

The technology is called Advanced Metering Infrastructure, known as AMI. 

DeWitt, who has helped install thousands of smart meters in other communities, emphasized the safety of the devices.

"I can tell you they are safe," he said.

Local business owner Kenesha Coleman, who runs King’s Kitchen located in the heart of downtown Camden, said she is open to the change.

"I’m actually really optimistic about it," Coleman said.

Residents can expect a brief outage of about 15 minutes when their meters are switched over. The full installation process is expected to take up to 24 months to complete.

DeWitt added that the new meters could help the city save money in the long run.

"What I would encourage people to think about is that if we're capturing actual usage, this may allow the city to save off future rate increases," he said.

The city has not announced an official start date for installation as they are continuing to finalize the details of a contract. Installation will begin as soon as they are secured.