US dataswitch to UK
Meter Readers, Utilities
reading electric, gas, inspecting meters for unauthorized connections and reporting to service departments any problems. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers is work software can't reach.
What shifts is reporting lost or broken keys: the paper around the work, not the work.
Your week, as this page understands it
Read meter and record consumption of electricity, gas, water, or steam. The job title says “meter readers” or “utilities”: officially one job, two names. The real job is the part underneath: reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But meter readers, utilities is not one task. It is 12 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 5%
- changing shape
- 33%
- staying human
- 62%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 27 out of 100 (24–32 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, across 12 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for meter readers, utilities is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
1 taskTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Reporting lost or broken keys
This is reading one thing and writing another: lost in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Report lost or broken keys.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 75 out of 100 (68–82 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Reporting a lost or broken key is a short routine notice a system can raise automatically.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
4 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Reporting to service departments any problems
The software now makes the first pass at service departments any problems, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Report to service departments any problems, such as meter irregularities, damaged equipment, or impediments to meter access, including dogs.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (49–63 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Writing up meter faults and access problems is short routine reporting software drafts easily.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Answering customers' questions about services and charges
The software now makes the first pass at customers' questions, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Answer customers' questions about services and charges, or direct them to customer service centers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 48 out of 100 (44–52 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Answering questions about charges and services is routine explaining software already handles in call centers.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Uploading into office computers all information collected on hand-held computers during meter rounds
The software now makes the first pass at office computers all information, but part of it still happens in the physical world. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Upload into office computers all information collected on hand-held computers during meter rounds, or return route books or hand-held computers to business offices so that data can be compiled.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 46 out of 100 (39–53 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Moving collected readings into office systems is data transfer software does automatically, though handsets and route books still get carried back.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Updating client address and meter location information
The software now makes the first pass at client address, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Update client address and meter location information.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (49–63 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Updating an address or meter location is a straightforward record change, though the detail comes from being on site.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Staying human
7 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers
This work happens in the physical world: electric, gas, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters and enter data in route books or hand-held computers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Reading a meter dial means walking up to the meter and looking at it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Walking or driving vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials
This work happens in the physical world: vehicles along established routes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Walk or drive vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Walking or driving a meter route is physically covering ground.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Inspecting meters for unauthorized connections
This work happens in the physical world: meters, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Spotting a broken seal or an illegal connection means being at the meter and looking closely.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Verifying readings in cases where consumption appears to be abnormal
This work happens in the physical world: readings, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Verify readings in cases where consumption appears to be abnormal, and record possible reasons for fluctuations.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (31–45 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Software is good at flagging odd consumption, but confirming an unusual reading usually means going back to the meter.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Leaving messages to arrange different times to read meters in cases in which meters are not accessible
This work happens in the physical world: messages, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Leave messages to arrange different times to read meters in cases in which meters are not accessible.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 39 out of 100 (32–46 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Sending a message to arrange another time is automatic scheduling, though a card left at the door needs someone there.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Show the other 2 tasks
Connecting and disconnecting utility services at specific locations
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: utility services, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Connect and disconnect utility services at specific locations.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Connecting or disconnecting a service means physically working at the meter.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Performing preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: preventative maintenance, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Servicing or repairing a meter is hands-on work at the device.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $48,150a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 19,430in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: service departments any problems in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: reporting lost or broken keys and reporting to service departments any problems. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where electric, gas get done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 5% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 33% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 62% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 12 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Reporting lost or broken keys is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to service departments any problems, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether electric, gas are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near reporting to service departments any problems. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to meter readers, utilities (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was computer numerically controlled tool programmers: only about 16% of its durable work is work you already do and it is under the same pressure this job is. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 27/100 here, with only 5% of the task list in the top band, and “read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters and enter data in…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters, and their equivalent is to perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on machines. Across both published task lists that is about 16% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 16% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. I will not move you off one melting floe onto another: 87% of its own task list already scores in the top exposure band (71/100 in this release), so the same software is eating it.
Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, and their equivalent is to disconnect or remove defective or unauthorized meters, using hand tools. Across both published task lists that is about 3% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 3% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the overall shape of the two task lists, but nothing in your day matched a specific piece of theirs closely enough to name.
Why I am not recommending it: The two task lists look alike from a distance and share almost nothing close up: no single piece of their work matched a piece of yours. That is a resemblance, not a route. And it is a narrow door: about 1,650 of those jobs against 19,430 of yours (OEWS May 2025), 8% as many seats.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 5% of its task weight, across 12 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like reading electric, gas, water or steam consumption meters and entering data in route books or hand-held computers arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The nearest United Kingdom equivalent is Debt, rent and other cash collectors. It is a close match rather than an identical one: the two countries draw the boundary of the job in slightly different places.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →close match
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
Why there is no community here
Collab365, who build this site, run paid Spaces for a small number of subjects, and none of them is built for this job. We are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
So the free services listed on this page are the whole answer, and it is the same answer we would give a friend.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for meter readers / utilities launches. Nothing else.
That did not look like an email address, so nothing was saved. Have another go below.
We could not save that. The fault is ours, not yours, and your address was not stored. Please try again later.
No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Meter Readers, Utilities?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 12 official task statements scored for Meter Readers, Utilities (United States, SOC 43-5041), 5% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 27 out of 100 (range 24–32, band: low). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Meter Readers, Utilities” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Report lost or broken keys” (75/100, high); “Report to service departments any problems, such as meter irregularities, damaged equipment, or impediments to meter access, including dogs” (56/100, partial); “Update client address and meter location information” (56/100, partial). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Meter Readers, Utilities” stay human?
- About 62% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters” (0/100, minimal); “Connect and disconnect utility services at specific locations” (0/100, minimal); “Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Meter Readers, Utilities” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 5% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 62% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Meter Readers, Utilities calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 12 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.