Meter readers are no longer roaming City of Sequim’s streets checking utility usage.

Administrators recently announced that the city has fully switched over its utilities to remotely-read devices via radio waves.

In total, that’s just under 3,100 utility meters, according to city staff.

As of April 11, the remote meters were all live, according to city manager Matt Huish at the Sequim City Council meeting on April 14.

Staff started the process of purchasing the meters in late 2023 and installation began in August 2024, said Paul Bucich, Sequim’s public works director, via email.

“Full integration with our billing system will be completed by the beginning of May,” he said.

“The customer portal will be integrated in early summer once we know all the bugs have been worked out. The portal will allow our customers to view their meter usage data daily, billing information, etc.”

He said residents will be able to read their water usage under the new system. All of the meters are radio reads, and new construction will include the same kind, he said.

The meters are a different brand than Clallam PUD uses, Bucich said, but they use the same technology.

According to the PUD’s Frequently Asked Questions on its website, its automatic meter infrastructure (AMI) meters use “RF waves, similar to communication by cell phones and Wi-Fi but at a significantly lower energy level.”

Staff state that “based on average reads the total transmitting period over a full year will average about 12 minutes.”

“Standing in front of an advanced meter for an entire year is roughly the same exposure to RF as a 6-minute 4G cell phone call or wirelessly streaming anything,” they write.

The PUD’s website states that staff recognize customers’ concerns of RF waves, hence an option to opt out for a non-transmitting meter at clallampud.net/advanced-meter-opt-out.

They continue to offer non-transmitting meters to customers for an additional fee for staff to read the meters. PUD’s commissioners also recently changed the agency’s policy to only offer digital, non-transmitting meters rather than analog meters due to availability.

Clallam PUD began changing to AMI meters in 2019, and 136 customers have opted out of the conversion.

The City of Sequim does not have an opt out option of radio-transmitting meters, Bucich said, and they have not had any requests to do so.

“I’m not sure we would support such a request as it drives up our costs and is inefficient,” he said.

From switching to AMI meters, PUD staff report the agency saves more than $300,000 a year.

For the City of Sequim, Bucich said three full-time staff read meters one week a month, or about 120 hours of staff time, not counting re-reads, shut-offs, billing notices and other duties.

As of last week, city staff estimate they’ve spent $761,500 of an $802,300 budget for the meter changes.

“Looking at the rate of return on investment, we have about 13 years before these units pay for themselves,” he said. “Considering that we expect an average life of 20 years and that salary costs go up every year, it’s a good investment for the community.”

Bucich said the changeover to remote meters will save the city about $62,000 a year while reducing carbon footprint and other expenses and freeing up staff time.

“The changeover will result in reduced vehicle usage, will increase safety for our crews, and reduce overhead costs (for billing staff),” he said. “Further, we now have an additional 1,440 hours of crew time to allocate to other functions that have been lagging due to staff availability.”

For more information about the City of Sequim’s utility services, visit sequimwa.gov.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Since starting installation in 2024, the City of Sequim has switched all of its utility meters to new devices so that they can be read remotely via radio waves.