Western Michigan University Receives First New Consumers Energy Meter in Kalamazoo Area
Online Access to Energy Information Offers Educational Opportunities to
Residential and Business Customers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 29, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Western Michigan University was the first in the region to receive an upgraded electric meter today as a Consumers Energy program kicked-off for its customers in the Kalamazoo region.
The Western View Apartments Clubhouse was the site today of a short ceremony to commemorate the education opportunities the new technology will offer university students.
“Education begins with information,” said Western Michigan University president John Dunn. “Technology that can provide customers with insight about their own energy consumption can be the foundation for personal choices that can support individual goals related to energy efficiency and sustainability. The new meters will enable students to take the next logical step in understanding their energy use and the role they can play to be more sustainable.”
The new meters can be read by Consumers Energy remotely through the cellular telephone system, which is the foundation for residential customers with new meters to securely access their energy use information online now and how business customers will gain new insight into their energy use when a new web portal becomes available to them this fall.
Consumers Energy has installed more than 500,000 of the new meters in West Michigan and plans to have 1.8 million updated electric meters on its customer’s homes and businesses throughout its statewide service territory by the end of 2017.
“We are seeing excellent performance from meters we have already installed, enabling us to bring enhanced service to more customers sooner,” said John Broschak, Consumers Energy’s vice president of major projects and construction.
Western Michigan approached Consumers Energy earlier this year to express the university’s interest in the new meter technology to support initiatives in education and sustainability.
Other benefits of upgrading meter technology include enhanced billing accuracy through eliminating the need for physical meter reads and quicker power outage responses when the meters begin reporting outages directly to Consumers Energy in 2016, a function that now requires customers to contact the utility when power outages occur.
Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.6 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
Media toolkit
LEARN MORE: Find out more about the benefits of upgraded meters at www.ConsumersEnergy.com/smartenergy or call 1-888-862-2199.
Media Contacts: Consumers Energy – Dennis McKee, 616-530-4146 or 
For more information about Consumers Energy, go to www.ConsumersEnergy.com.
