IREA online portal puts power in comsumer hands
Puts “power” in consumer hands
Information provided by IREA; photo by Terri Wiebold
New Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters allow consumers to monitor IREA power usage through an online portal.
The Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) recently launched My Power, an online portal that transforms customers’ access to energy use information. My Power gives IREA customers with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters the ability to better view, manage and analyze their usage data. Features allow users to monitor consumption patterns, compare periods of energy use, and better understand how household energy habits can affect a monthly bill.
My Power’s charts, tables and graphs give customers a new way to look at how they use electricity in hourly, daily and weekly increments.
Customers can also set up custom thresholds for energy use. My Power will notify you if your usage has exceeded a specified amount. You can also identify your daily peak demand, which can be helpful for customers using rooftop solar generation. For more information about installing solar panels, see related article on page 13.
My Power also includes weather data. Customers can use My Power’s weather tracking feature to determine if a period of high energy use occurred on a day when temperatures were high or low.
“We are pleased to announce the launch of this powerful new service for our customers,” IREA Public Affairs Director Josh Liss said. “Customers often request more detailed information about their energy use. My Power provides a level of insight they’ve never had before, and in a platform that is easy to use and understand.”
The AMI has two-way communication between IREA and the meters, which gives customers more timely data and alerts IREA immediately if there is an outage at the meter. Because the data in My Power is created via the AMI system, customers who opt out of AMI will not have access to My Power.
IREA began installation of AMI in January 2019, and expects to finish the project by the end of 2020, at which point more than 160,000 meters will have been replaced. All 80108 residents should have the new meters already installed.
To access My Power, eligible IREA customers first need to enroll in My Account at www.IREA.coop. From the main page, click “login” under the My Account box in the top right-hand corner. On the next screen, click the link for new account registration and follow the instructions.
