Check with your utility company if you aren't sure, but odds are, if the meter has a digital readout, you have one, if not, you don't. If you do have one already, check of the rest of the steps, you're done.

Contact your utility company or look at their website and see if smart meters are available. They may be a part of time-of-use pricing plans, so look for those anywhere on the website. If they're available, skip to step 4, if not, continue on to step 3.

See if there are any plans in the works. If there are, keep up to date with them. If not, make an issue of it. Educate your community and petition the utility company to adopt these energy and cost-saving meters.

As soon as they are available, get one of these meters. They will allow you to know how much energy you are using in real time, allow the utility company to operate more efficiently, reward you for using energy at off-peak times, and can also allow you to potentially get details on your energy usage beyond one number a month.