DAYTON -- It could take seven years for Dayton Power and Light Co. to provide all its customers with computer-linked meters that would enable the utility to quickly identify locations where customers have lost electric power, DP&L's top executive said.

"We're going to be out there replacing over half a million meters," Paul M. Barbas, president and chief executive officer of the utility and its parent company, DPL Inc., told industry analysts Thursday, Oct. 30, during a conference call to discuss the company's third-quarter earnings.

DPL said its earnings fell by 20 percent to $48 million, or 42 cents per share, during the three months ended Sept. 30.

Earnings for the same quarter a year ago totaled $60.7 million, or 53 cents per share. The company's wholesale and retail revenues fell to $414.5 million during the latest quarter, down from $422 million a year ago. Energy sales were down because of milder than usual weather and unplanned outages of some electricity generating plants -- including units operated by partner utilities, DPL said.

Despite that, the company expects to meet its projected earnings of between $2 and $2.20 per share for all of 2008.

The company's shares (NYSE: DPL) rose 9 cents in Thursday's trading to close at $23.14. The stock has traded as high as $31 during the past year.

Barbas has said that Dayton Power and Light will ask the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio this fall for approval to begin installing the "smart grid" metering technology. It can pinpoint the location of outages, eliminating the wait to receive calls from customers for help. The PUCO would determine how much the company can bill its customers for the system.

DPL has been working on the "smart grid" plan for 18 months, Barbas has said.

A Sept. 14 storm hit the region with winds of up to 70 mph, downing trees and power lines and knocking out electric service to customers for as much as 13 days in some cases.

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