There’s new technology coming to homes that could help customers keep a closer eye on their electricity usage. If you pay an energy bill to National Grid, you’ll soon have a new smart meter installed at your home.

Once a smart meter is installed, users will be able to log into their account and see detailed power usage in 15-minute intervals. The new meters can also detect if the power is out at individual homes, something the current meters can’t do.

So far National Grid says 170,000 of these have been installed, which represents about 10% of the company’s customers. The project started in Onondaga County, but the company says it will soon be moving to the Mohawk Valley. This is also underway in the Capital Region, then the Adirondacks and Northern New York, and eventually Western New York.

National Grid says that about 10% of energy usage is phantom power, or things you leave plugged in but aren’t using, like toasters, microwaves and TVs.

“Often it goes unrecognized, customers feel as though they’ve turned something off, they’ve done the right thing, and largely they have done the right thing. But those devices are still drawing power all the time,” said Micael Mokey, head of Advanced Metering Infrastructure for New York with National Grid.

It won’t be a surprise when the smart meter comes to someone’s home. They’ll get some papers in the mail letting them know what’s coming. National Grid estimates it could take another year to have them all installed. They’re also hoping to roll out an app by the end of the year that can show users their electricity usage in real-time, broken down by individual appliance. 

Other upstate New York power companies like NYSEG and RG&E are also installing smart meters for their customers.