What do you know about your electricity consumption?
Reading your own meter can be really helpful for many reasons. Ultimately, it helps you understand and track your usage so that you can either take steps to manage your consumption better, or to predict your bills and help budget your monthly expenses.
There are other reasons you might want to know how to read your own meter:
- Your meter may occasionally be inaccessible to our meter reader. We read your meter based on a schedule. In some circumstances, our meter reader may not be able to access your meter. If you aren't home in these situations, our billing system will estimate your consumption. It is important to note that it will still be necessary for our staff to access your meter from time to time.
- For your own reference: You may want to track your meter readings to get a better idea of your usage and costs over the year.
- If you're concerned that your bill is too high: You may want to read your meter to confirm that the reading on your bill is accurate before you call us. If you check your reading and feel that an error was made when we last read your meter, please contact our office to discuss your account.
How to Read Your Meter
Many residential meters have five dials, but some of the older models may have four. The procedure is the same for both. Each dial rotates in an opposite direction from the one beside it. As Dial One completes a full revolution, Dial Two beside it completes 1/10 of a revolution, etc. The dials are read from right to left. When the point is between two digits, the smaller number is read. Read Your Dials Right To Left.
Alternatively, you may have a digital meter. Digital meters are easier to read than dial meters - all you need to do is just read the number!
If you want to track your own use, read your meter on the same day and approximately the same time each month and subtract the current reading from the previous months reading to get your consumption for that month.
AMR Meters
Naka Power (Yellowknife) and Naka Power (NWT) utilize Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) in reading customer electrical meters throughout the City of Yellowknife. AMR meters collect information about the amount of electricity consumed at a site and sends it to us over the power lines. By reading customer meters this way Naka Power (Yellowknife) and Naka Power (NWT) provide more accurate and timely billing to our customers.
AMR meters are not SMART meters. SMART meters differ in that they transmit information about your electricity consumption and that the time of day the electricity was used to the utility - sometimes multiple times a day. Most SMART meters also use a radio inside the meter to send customer data to the utility.
Managing Your Consumption
We know that electricity can be expensive, and we all care about managing our impact on the environment. That's why we've created a couple of easy guides to help you understand and manage your electricity consumption. Download these today.
Demand Metering
A demand meter is a type of meter that records and monitors the peak amount of electricity you require at a given time.
The reason that we monitor and bill demand is simple; Naka Power (Yellowknife) and Naka Power (NWT) need to have that power readily available in the event that a customer requires it. Some commercial services are on rates that charge for demand.
The demand meter records the customer energy consumption, as well as the customer's demand for every 15-minute interval. The highest peak demand recorded during one 15-minute interval is what is shown and billed on a customers statement.
Why is my meter reading always an estimated amount when there are meter readers collecting this data?
- Meter reads (collected by Naka Power (NWT) or Naka Power (Yellowknife) or submitted by the customer) are validated for accuracy and we make every effort to validate the meter read before the monthly bill is generated. If a meter read cannot be validated, it is not used to calculate new charges.
- If you are concerned that your bill is too high, you can read your own meter and complete the form further down on this page.
Naka Power (NWT) or Naka Power (Yellowknife) must ensure that all electric meters comply with the applicable Government of Canada acts, regulations and specifications. Customers who believe they have a faulty meter should contact their local office.