The company has filed an application with the Régie de l’énergie for approval and also reached an important milestone by installing 850,000 next-generation meters since the roll-out of the technology began in February 2013.

Around 1.7 million meters included in Phase 1 of the project are already installed at customers’ homes in the greater Montreal area.

The company said that by maintaining tight control over costs, it has reduced the estimated cost by $12.5m so far.

In the third quarter of 2013, Hydro-Québec exceeded its forecasts regarding the number of meters installed. Specifically, 52,000 more meters were installed than the objective of 334,000.