You answer the knock at your door to find a man who says he’s working for PPL and needs to check your meter. It’s a scam, right?

Not necessarily!

While a Tamaqua man was scammed recently by someone pretending to represent PPL, residents of Carbon County are actually being contacted in person by a PPL representative, thanks to a planned meter replacement project.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has approved a PPL project that will replace old meters with new digital meters. The project is expected to be completed by 2019 and promises to improve service and reliability and allow for additional energy saving choices through technology, while answering to new state mandated requirements.

The new meters will allow customers to better track their individual energy use. They will also be able to automatically alert PPL of an outage and allow the company to better detect tampering or theft of services. Instead of using power lines to exchange information, as the current dial meters work, the new electronic digital meters will be equipped with wireless communication technology, a radio signal system.

While some areas throughout the state have already had new meters installed, a PPL contractor is currently working in Monroe and Carbon counties, with White Haven, Hazleton, Tamaqua, Pottsville and Orwigsburg customers to be contacted in spring 2018 for the verification process.

Contractors for the project are Grid One Solutions and Riggs Distler and Company Inc. Before the actual new meter installation, a contractor will check each meter to gauge its accessibility, type and location in a verification process. While most meters are located outside the home, workers may knock on your door for permission to be on your property. If a meter is determined to be located indoors or not accessible, the contractor will call to make an appointment.

Customers are supposed to receive a letter detailing the process before the verification team shows up at their property, but some consumers say they never received a letter. Workers will have proper identification, so always check to see an ID.

New meters will not be installed in these areas until about six months after the verification process is complete.

For more information, visit the utility company’s website at www.pplelectric.com/reliability/new-electric-meters or call 800-342-5775.