EnergyBiz - September/October 2007 - (Page 66) [case study] Comprehensive AMR Deployment Across the Plains The states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming are not often given credit or thought of as a hub of technology and innovation. In fact, those four states have one of the lowest population densities of any region in the continental United States. But one utility company has seen the future and is bringing it to the Great Plains region today - a future that includes cutting edge technology, energy conservation and the flexibility necessary for future growth. Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (Montana-Dakota) distributes natural gas and generates, transmits and distributes electricity, providing related services in the northern Great Plains. MontanaDakota is a division of MDU Resources Group, Inc., a multidimensional natural resources enterprise. The utility has a combination of both gas and electric service, and gas-only in some areas of their service region. In 2006, Montana-Dakota signed a comprehensive automated meter reading (AMR) contract with Itron, based in Liberty Lake, Wash., for approximately 277,000 gas and electric meters in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The contract is for Itron’s AMR suite, ChoiceConnectô, which included Itron solid-state CENTRONÆ electricity meters, gas AMR modules, mobile data collectors and Itron Fixed Network 2.0. Also included in the contract was Itron Enterprise Edition Meter Data Management software solutions, project management and installation services. The total deployment is expected to be completed by August 2008. “We are driven by economics - we need to provide safe, reliable energy, but we need to do it as efficiently and cost effectively as possible,” said Frank Morehouse, vice president of operations for Montana-Dakota. “The time finally came when it all made business sense.” The deployment includes the new 100G ERT module for use with Mobile Collector and Fixed Network data collection systems. The 100G module joins Itron’s industry-leading portfolio of radiofrequency-based meter data collection for gas automated meter reading, offering more efficient mobile reads and reduced infrastructure costs for fixed network deployments. Changing thE Way Montana-Dakota DoEs BusinEss Advertisement For years, Montana-Dakota used mostly handheld meter reading technology and offsite meter reading systems, employing or contracting approximately 28 meter readers. Every year, MontanaDakota faced escalating labor, health insurance and maintenance costs. Those costs included frequent testing of the electromechanical meters, since moving parts inside the meters can wear, and maintaining the fleet of vehicles used for meter reading. As Montana-Dakota officials looked at regional growth forecasts, they came to the conclusion that gas and electricity demand would only continue to climb and the utility needed to take progressive and aggressive measures to keep costs down, while providing increased services to the ever-growing customer base. “We have always believed in proactive customer service, not just preparing a utility bill,” said Morehouse. “In order to work more efficiently, we needed more detailed consumption data. The more data our customers have, the more we think they will make choices to use less energy. Ultimately, through conservation and our AMR solutions, our intention is to keep our customer rates lower.” Using Itron ChoiceConnect, Montana-Dakota adds ERTequipped CENTRON meters; 100G gas ERTs; G5 and FC200 handheld computers; Mobile Collection System and Mobile Collector Lite; Fixed Network 2.0; PremierePlus 4 and Fixed Network Application Server software. Because the geography is so diverse throughout the four states, the Itron ChoiceConnect suite of products allows Montana-Dakota to deploy the best-fit collection system to meet the unique needs of the territory. It also offers the flexibility to blend the collection methods to meet specific needs. Montana-Dakota selected Itron’s integrated AMR solution to improve customer service and reduce operating costs. In addition to the fixed network system, Montana-Dakota is implementing meter data management software enterprise wide to provide enhanced data analysis and to provide flexibility for future system changes. The utility provided the majority of their meters with AMR technology and use Itron Fixed Network and mobile AMR systems to read those meters. Deploying fixed network technology will also provide Montana-Dakota with outage management capabilities and off-cycle reads, all of which enhance customer service. “With Itron’s software, we will have theft detection, which will generate lost revenue, outage notification and data for distribution planning for our overall system,” said Morehouse. “We will look at time-of-use rates since we think time-of-use rates may be very important in the near future.” Montana-Dakota also puts a premium on conservation. The company offers incentives and rebates to customers for installing high-efficiency appliances and set-back thermostats. “I know that advance metering infrastructure has all the buzz in the industry, but Montana-Dakota looked at it and realized that a comprehensive AMR project, complete with meter data management software, made more sense economically and operationally - for their customers and for the geography,” said Carl Porter, product line director for Itron gas solutions. “They didn’t want a onesize-fits-all solution, but rather chose to customize what they need for each service area.” Montana-Dakota officials say they plan to stay on the leading edge of technology. “This is part of our vision of the future,” Morehouse said. “Itron had all the pieces of the puzzle, and we arranged them in a way that made sense for us.” www.energycentral.com E n E rgyB i z 67 http://www.energycentral.com
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