Avangrid Inc. AGR and its subsidiaries, New York State Electric & Gas (“NYSEG”) and Rochester Gas and Electric (“RG&E”), announced the installation of more than 700,000 smart meters for electric and natural gas customers statewide.
The seven NYSEG and RG&E divisions that are presently receiving upgrades are Ithaca, Rochester, Brewster, Sodus, Binghamton, Canandaigua, Lancaster and Hornell. The upgrades are also focused on new builds and meter replacements in other parts of the state.
Benefits of Smart Meters
Smart meters are modules for natural gas or electricity meters that facilitate two-way wireless communications between the meter and the company’s systems. By securely transmitting usage and meter status data automatically, these meters allow monthly bills to be based on actual use rather than manual meter reading or estimates. This allows customers to gain a better understanding of their energy bills and have control over the same. Additionally, smart meters help companies locate faults and address them faster.
AGR has also witnessed improvements in outage response in places where smart meters were placed during the recent series of thunderstorms. These initiatives should help the company in providing quick response to outages and enhancing its service reliability, thereby boosting its performance.
Utilities’ Focus on Smart Meter Initiatives
According to a Smart Energy International report, the number of smart meters in North America reached almost 146 million at the end of 2023 and, with ongoing growth, is expected to reach 182.9 million in 2029. With a compound annual growth rate projected at 3.8% over the period to 2029, the penetration of smart meters in the United States should increase to 94% in the same year.
NYSEG and RG&E are working to install more than 1.3 million smart electric meters and add 600,000 natural gas modules for customers in 17 of their divisions across the state. Smart meter upgrades are expected to continue across all business service segments over the next two years.
Along with Avangrid, other utility companies like Spire Inc. SR, FirstEnergy Corp. FE and Atmos Energy ATO are also focused on taking advantage of smart meter installation.
Spire has invested millions of dollars in purchasing and installing advanced meters this year. It continues to install ultrasonic meters across utilities to improve customer experience.
SR’s long-term (three- to-five year) earnings growth rate is 5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 4.9%.
FE aims to expand the deployment of Grid Modernization technologies and help reduce the frequency of power outages. This investment also includes the deployment of 1.4 million smart meters to further deliver safe, reliable power and promote modern experiences for customers.
FE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 5.5%.
A major portion of ATO’s planned capital expenditure is utilized to improve the safety and reliability of distribution and transportation systems. The company expects $3.1 billion in capital expenditures during fiscal 2024. With the help of these investments, ATO is focused on installing wireless meter reading, which has already been installed in parts of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas and (the entire) Colorado. The company aims to install wireless meter reading devices throughout its service areas.
ATO’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 11.3%.
Recent AGR Stock Performance
In the past three months, shares of AGR have risen 0.2% compared with the industry’s 1% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Rank
AGR currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Atmos Energy Corporation (ATO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Spire Inc. (SR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Avangrid, Inc. (AGR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
