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Duke Energy installing new 'smart meters' for Orlando-area customers

LAKE MARY, Fla. — Duke Energy is working to help Orlando-area residents make smarter choices to save energy – and money.

The energy company is installing smart meters across the area starting Friday.

Smart meters are aren't much bigger than the older version, but they offer additional features.

Old meters only let you know how much power was used when the bill is due. With the new meters, customers can monitor their usage hour-by-hour.

The company said that will allow them to identify appliances that use electricity nonstop throughout the day, which can account for as much as 20 percent of a monthly power bill.

Duke Energy customer Mark Thomason said he’s all for the idea of the smart meters.

"I love efficiency. I love getting more. It's like a game. Some people like sports I like getting more out of something," he said.

For the power company, the new meters help pinpoint an outage quicker and restore power faster.

Duke Energy has more than 300,000 customers in Central Florida and more than 1.8 million statewide. The company said it plans to upgrade every single one of them to the new meters.

The company also said it hopes to roll out more features on the new meters by spring.