The City of Fulton launched its new website today, which will allow utility customers to track their electricity usage and costs.
After completing a registration for the online portal, utility customers can track monetary amounts of how much electricity they've used so far in the billing period, the estimated amount they will owe for the billing period and a comparison of their costs from the same time the year prior.
Utilities Superintendent Darrell Dunlap said the city and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) split the cost of the $3.055 million project - which included the new website, software and smart grid equipment for meters. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy gave the city a grant to promote smart meters and take on the challenge of kicking off the system. Fulton was the only city in Missouri to receive the grant and pursue smart meters.
Employees in the utilities department and administrators and supervisors - Dunlap, City Administrator Bill Johnson, Assistant City Administrator Jerry Sorte, Chief Financial Officer Kathy Holschlag and Assistant City Engineer Kyle Bruemmer - went through a nearly two-hour long training on Tuesday in preparation for the website launch. A link to the site is accessible through the city's website: fultonmo.org. During the training, Dunlap said the system is going live in time for the warmer months when customers will use air conditioning.
Because the tracking system figure for one period is an estimate, that number will most likely not be an exact match to electricity costs on utility bills. But, Dunlap said, the system can prevent surprises.
"Customers can get the idea of what their bill is going to look like," he said.
Dunlap said the city will eventually have to report to the DOE the problems its faced while launching the system and if customers use less energy with the information the system provides. If they do use less energy, the DOE wants to know by how much.
"The idea is that you give more customers more information and they make better informed choices," Dunlap said.
Those wishing to register can take the following steps:
• Go to fultonmo.org.
• Click the Online Utility Kiosk banner on the home page.
• Click on the "Click Here" button to start registration.
• Enter account number and last name. First name is optional. The account number is the six-digit figure listed on customers' utility bills before the dash mark. For example, if the account number listed on a customer's utility bill is "012345-333" then he or she would enter "012345" in the online registration.
• Continue the registration process. Customers can choose email and/or text notifications about their usage on an daily, weekly or monthly basis. This can also be done after the registration process through a customer's profile that is accessible after registration has been completed. Dunlap said he typically receives his daily text message between 9:20-9:30 a.m.
The city will eventually add smart gas and water meters, but Dunlap said an end date for those projects is unpredictable. The city has received the gas and water meters and training on equipment installation will take place this week, he said. The city also needs to obtain the software update for the water smart grid.
Customers can also access energy saving tips and pay their bills through the new website. Those with questions can contact the city at (573) 592-3111.