Tampa Electric uses a meter to measure the amount of energy consumed by your home or business. Meters display usage in kilowatt hours (kWh). Your monthly statement reflects the difference in kWh of energy used from the previous month to the current month. That number is used to calculate the cost of your electric service.
Most of the time, Tampa Electric representatives physically read meters. In some cases, however, we rely on an estimate based on past customer electricity usage. Meter estimation is used when we can't reach a meter for some reason or conditions are unsafe.
You can learn how to check your meter yourself and compare your own readings to what appears on your bill, and contact us if there is a significant difference.
In the past decade, meter technology has evolved from electromechanical, or dial-type, meters to digital meters. In fact, all major electric-meter manufacturers have discontinued production of dial-type meters, and all Florida investor-owned utilities are utilizing digital meters.
Tampa Electric adopted advanced metering technology in 2003, when the company began replacing electromechanical or dial-type meters with digital meters, also called drive-by meters. This technology is also known as automated meter reading, or AMR. We are installing these meters on all homes and businesses in our 2,000-square-mile territory. As of Oct. 1, about 85 percent of the meters in our system use this technology, and the project is expected to be complete in 2012.
Learn more about Automated Meter Reading.
