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Many Portland General Electric customers may not give much thought to how much electricity is being used when they turn on a heater, a television or another appliance. But that may change soon, when PGE customers will be able to track their hourly energy use by using an online program that will work with 800,000 new SmartMeters being installed in the utility’s service area.

PGE spokeswoman Brianne Hyder said the new meters and Web site will allow customers and the utility to track how electricity is being used.

“The new meters and future online site will give customers the capability to take an active role in managing their energy use,” Hyder said. “It will also allow us to evaluate customer energy use for our needs.”

The meters’ digital screens will show how many kilowatt-hours have been consumed since the meter was installed. As electricity is used, a bar moves from left to right across the bottom of the screen. The more that is used, the faster the bar moves.

PGE is working with a software developer to connect the new meters to a Web site, and expects to have it up and running within the next two years. Customers will be able to enter general statistics about their homes, such as square footage and the number of major appliances, on the Web site, which will generate individual tracking systems.

Hyder said that with more specific data from customers, PGE may be able to reduce its need for new power plants in the future. The utility announced earlier this month that it would phase out the use of coal at its Boardman plant by 2020.