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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) A number of questions were raised by citizens concerned about the implementation of the Automatic Metering Infrastructure system during a public input meeting last night.

Bob Drake questioned the city estimate of installation cost and load management savings. He believes Valley City will lose control once it’s up and running.

But Tom Thorson of Cooper Power, the company with the contract to help the city install the system said the company will have no control.

Valley City Administrator David Schelkoph said if the system isn’t installed before next winter it will cost the customers on load management a lot of money.

Schelkoph said the 30-year-old system needs to be replaced to save the city money in the long run.

The city said there’s no health threat to customers using smart meters. And customers who don’t want to use the smart meters can opt-out. But Schelkoph said it customers decide they want to opt-in at a later date they can do so at no cost just one time.

On Friday the city commission unanimously approved a $1,205,706 dollar contract to Cooper Power to install the AMI system in Valley City.