The technology will enable SCE residential and small-business customers to take advantage of new programs and services in the near future.

SCE will replace traditional mechanical meters with Edison SmartConnect meters that are digital, secure, two-way communicating devices.

Once advanced features are fully activated, SCE’s smart meters will be able to communicate with the next generation of smart thermostats, appliances and other devices.

Deployments will continue through this year to a total of nearly five million SCE residential and small-business customers in the utility’s 50,000-square-mile service territory.

SCE is partnering with Corix Utilities to perform most of the installations.