Public Power - November/December 2007 - (Page 18)

Connecting with the Customer through Public power utilities are mulling their options for automated metering systems as they prepare for an era of time-sensitive pricing BY ALICE CLAMP sa test. What is AMR? If you answered automated meter reading, you’d be right. But if you answered advanced meter reading, you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. Just to make things more confusing, there’s AMI—advanced metering infrastructure. Not to mention some of the system options. One-way or two-way? Mobile or fixed? Radio frequency or powerline communications? Welcome to the brave new world of meter technology. It’s one that many public power utilities have yet to enter. A 2006 American Public Power Association survey found that just 29 percent of 500 respondents relied on an AMR system to read meters automatically. One reason for utility hesitation to embrace AMR may be the continually evolving meter technology. Some systems installed in the late 1990s are now at the end of their technological life and must either be replaced or upgraded. Moreover, the entire process—from developing a business case to talking with vendors to conducting a pilot study—can take years. Still, many public power utilities have installed AMR systems—usually to reduce estimated bills, improve read accuracy and reduce labor costs. Drive-by meter reading—Mobile, oneway, radio-frequency AMR systems let utility personnel drive through a neighborhood and collect usage data from customers’ meters. A communication device in the meter sends a signal to the equipment in the vehicle. North Attlebor18 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2007 Here’ ough Electric Department in Massachusetts has a mobile AMR system. The town decided on an automated system because it was adding 150-250 meters a year and needed more meter readers to keep up with the growth, said Brad Dean, meter supervisor. AMR promised not only to save staff time but to reduce the error rate stemming from manual readings. It’s lived up to that promise. Clark Public Utilities in Washington state was doing bimonthly billing, which did not send a timely signal to customers on their electricity usage, said Richard Dyer, director of finance and treasurer. “We decided on a three-phased approach: change to monthly billing, upgrade the billing system and install AMR,” he said. Rising labor costs were one reason that Sacramento Municipal Utility District opted for a mobile AMR system, said Erik Krause, senior demand-side specialist for the California utility. “When we did the business case, we found that AMR could save operational dollars and provide a pretty quick payback,” he said. SMUD had already installed some electronic receiver/ transmitter (ERT) meters where there were issues of access safety, so it had seen the benefits of automation. “Those meters were relatively inexpensive and they worked well,” said Krause. A fixed solution—Not all AMR systems are mobile, however. Some employ a fixed network. But, like its mobile counterpart, a fixed AMR system is often installed to improve customer service. “We made the decision to install an AMR fixed network primarily to improve operational performance of meter reading as well as other customer operations like call center operations,” said Dave Glenwright, manager of AMR operations and strategy for PECO, a unit of Exelon Energy Delivery and Pennsylvania’s largest utility. “And those were the immediate benefits that PECO saw when implementing the system,” he added. Similarly, PPL Electric Utilities, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., opted for an AMI fixed system to improve customer service and efficiency, said Ryan Hill, a company spokesman. “Our customers said they didn’t want estimated reads.” Since the meters were installed, customer bills are based on accurate reads 99.8 percent of the time, said Hill. In addition to greater accuracy, a fixed system can collect customer usage data on a daily basis, rather than at the end of a billing cycle. The Holland Board of Public Works in Michigan, for example, has a fixed wireless AMR system that provides hourly reads of its residential meters, said Jim Theis, materials and facilities manager. The Holland utility will soon obtain 15minute reads on all commercial and industrial meters. Deciding on a system—Mobile or fixed, how do utilities go about deciding which system is right for them? One good way is to look at what others have done. Clark Public Utilities did its homework for two years to satisfy itself that the marketplace had matured and a deployable technology was available. Then, a senior executive group visited a number of utilities, some in the public sector, some in the private. “We asked about system performance, how they used the system, what they had learned from their deployment strategies,” said the utility’s Dyer. North Attleborough stayed a little closer PUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - November/December 2007

Public Power - November/December 2007 Contents Washington Focus 10 Questions Connecting with the Customer Through Automation AMR or AMI? The High Court’s Antitrust Thunderbolts California’s Push for Demand-Response Plug-In Partners Get Plugged In Wiring Up for Double-Digit Growth For Engineers Safety Community Broadband For Governing Boards DEED Customer Service Hometown Connections Index to Advertisers Parting shot

Public Power - November/December 2007

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