BOTH the Guam Power and Waterworks Authorities are to be commended for adopting new technology that aim to improve the services they offer.

GPA yesterday began rolling out the first 5,000 of its smart grid meters, which are part of the utility’s initiative to provide upgraded meters that will provide more accurate electricity consumption for customers. Funding for the new meters came from GPA’s 2010 revenue bonds with matching Department of Energy grant funding.

“By this time next year, advanced smart grid meters will be able to provide customers with daily energy consumption information,” stated Consolidated Utility Services General Manager John M. Benavente. “Smart grid meter technology will provide not only accurate energy consumption, but also outage information and location as well as voltage quality to customers and GPA. The rollout of smart grid meters into the field is the first important step in this process.”

GWA, on the other hand, has also begun installing its new Badger meters to replace its old, non-registering AMR meters.

Customers from Barrigada, Mangilao, Chalan Pågo, Ordot, Barrigada Heights, Latte Heights, Tamuning and Yigo have already started to see their old meters changed.

The Badger meters are state-of-the-art advanced meter reading systems that use the latest radio frequency and network technologies. In addition to better flow management, the new Badger meters’ radio frequency, mobile and network technologies also provide more timely and accurate meter reading information as well as other valuable customer data.

The decision by GPA and GWA to adopt these new technologies is praiseworthy, but they must also not forget to be on their toes with regard to the implementation phase.

We only have to look back to GWA’s equipment gaffe not too long ago to realize how costly mistakes in the implementation of new technology can be.

It will be recalled that when GWA discovered that backflow preventers were causing massive problems for its water meters, it had to spend a small fortune to replace the faulty equipment.

It wasn’t until after GWA had already installed thousands of backflow preventers that the water agency began to notice the massive problem that the backflow preventers were causing.

GPA, too, has had its share of problems, the most recent of which was the glitch that caused it to overbill many of its customers.

With the big number of engineers and technical staff working in both agencies, GWA and GPA should work to ensure a smooth implementation of their respective new technologies.

Perhaps a trial period can be initiated for the new equipment and pre-testing be made of all new equipment and new procedures.

We are sure that both utilities have excellent in-house engineering expertise to ensure that the installation and operation of the new meters will be as problem-free as possible.