Article: Myrtle Beach, Calif., Meter Readers Use Remote Electronic System.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 20 -- On a scorching, steamy August morning, Santee Cooper meter reader Charles Becker is lazily tooling up and down the streets of a Myrtle Beach subdivision in an air-conditioned van.

He's not goofing off. He's reading meters.

High-tech has come to one of the lowest-tech jobs around, saving meter readers from climbing over fences, fighting off bees and wasps, running from angry dogs and suffering the scorn of disturbed residents.

The new system, a pilot project likely to become standard for the area, is mainly aimed at keeping costs down for customers by limiting the need for meter readers as ...

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