Many of you remember the blackout of 2003...It happened August 14th and was the largest blackout in U-S history. It affected 40 million people in eight states, including Michigan. It was caused by a massive power fluctuation that affected a transmission grid. Hopefully nothing like that happens here again. But as My TV20's Jorge Avellan reports, if the power goes out, you'll now have one less thing to worry about.

Today in a press conference, DTE Energy announced they will soon replace your current natural gas meter in your home with an Advanced Metering Infrastructure known as "AMI". The purpose is to have a more accurate reading of your power usage.

Robert J. Buckler
"No more visits from the meter reader, no more estimated bills. Every bill will reflect the exact amount of usage that you had and it will reflect the exact usage you has on a real time basis. So you will also be able to go to the web and see what your usage for today...what your usage has been year to date."

Robert J. Buckler
"When the power goes out, we will know that the power has gone out, no more having to worry about having someone called in or not , no more trying to figure out how many customers are out and who is out."

The 350 million dollar project, that will start with twenty thousand homes in Gross Isle, will take about six years to complete in Metro Detroit. The new meter is also designed to alert DTE when the device is being tampered with.

Robert J. Buckler
"Another feature is that we will know if someone is tampering, and that is significant to all of us because when someone is stealing electricity, all the rest of us pay for that stolen additional electricity."

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is now in the process of installing new automated water meters. They're going in now on the city's east side. Residents should receive an Installation Alert by mail --complete with scheduling instructions.