AMI Project Frequently Asked Questions
View our responses to some common questions about the upcoming AMI project!
What is it? When will it begin? Will it affect my health or home electronics?
AMI stands for Advanced Metering Infrastructure, called AMI for short. With AMI, every utility customer meter, within the City of Cartersville, will be able to reliably measure the use of water, gas, and electricity in your home or business. It will be able to automatically send a brief, private, digital message to a data collection tower using a cellular signal—much like a cell phone does now. All meter reads then transmit to the City of Cartersville, where the information is processed within the billing system.
No. The power of the radio frequency signal used in AMI is too low to pose a health risk. The products that make up the AMI system are meticulously evaluated for safety and meet all standards established by the Federal Communications Commission [FCC], and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE]. The technology the City of Cartersville selected sends a signal that can be compared to a cellular text message.
No, you do not have to present for the installation. Because the meter is outside of your home, you do not need to be present while our Water, Gas, and/or Electric technicians perform the upgrade.
Not necessarily. In cases where rates remain consistent, the new meters will simply record consumption of your water, gas, and electricity usage more accurately. In some cases, your bill may increase, but only if the current meter is underreporting usage. Presently, the majority of customers are paying for the utilities they are actually using, while a few customers are only paying for a portion of actual usage. This condition is not fair to all customers. Discussions have already been held amongst utility Directors and City Management that it does not intend to make bills retroactive where under-billing has been noted. The new system will ensure fairness and equality for all customers from this point forward.
The City of Cartersville has contracted with Utility Metering Solutions [UMS] and 3B Services to complete the meter upgrade throughout the City.
All installers will have an ID badge indicating their name and their employment and will be wearing bright yellow t-shirts/jackets/vests. Installers will travel in vehicles that have logos and "City of Cartersville" magnets on the side. All installers have successfully completed a comprehensive criminal background check.
No appointment is necessary.
In most cases, it's a simple procedure, performed by a City-approved contractor that will require about 30-60 minutes total.
Advanced Metering Infrastructures deliver an impressive amount of data, which can then be passed on directly to you, the customer.
You will be able to use this information to better understand why your bill may be higher one month and lower the next.
Because of the level of data transparency, the City's Utility departments are removed as the information gatekeepers. Bill discrepancies will have greater transparency.
Along with consumption benefits, AMI helps identify and confirm potential leaks. The City is immediately notified by the AMI system and can address the issue before it becomes a bigger problem.
In the event of a power outage, you'll be able to access real-time data on the cause, as well as an expected timeframe as to when the outage will be remedied.
This allows you to better manager your utility costs and implement good habits that encourage both conservation of water, gas, and electricity.
This technology will enable the Electric System to be notified of a power outage and start the response to the outage much quicker. On top of that, it will allow them to spot certain conditions, such as transformer overloading, prior to it causing an outage.
The Water Department will be notified of water leaks much sooner, so they can address the problem as soon as possible.
And the same goes for the Gas Department. If a leak is determined, they will be notified immediately and can take care of the potentially dangerous situation much sooner.
No natural gas meter replacements will be performed within 5 days of the temperature being forecast to be 32 degrees or colder unless you are home for a technician to relight your natural gas appliances. No natural gas meter replacements will be performed during the months of January and February due to the potential for cold temperatures.
Your natural gas service will be turned off for the replacement of your natural gas meter and the technician will turn on your natural gas service when the replacement is complete. The technician will relight your natural gas appliances after turning on your natural gas service.
If no one is home during the replacement of your natural gas meter, your natural gas service will be left off for your safety and the safety of your property. Once you return home, please call the contact number on your door hanger and a technician will arrive within 90 minutes to turn your natural gas service on and relight your natural gas appliances 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Based on a pre-determined route scheduled by the City of Cartersville, the City-approved contractor will come to your residence and replace your existing utility meter.
For Water: the meter will be checked to verify that water is presently not in use. If no water is being used, the meter will be replaced. There will be interruption of service for approximately 15-20 minutes during the change; but after that, it will be the same great service [and even better] that you've come to expect.
Yes, your account information is secure. Data transmitted through the AMI system is protected, as proprietary communication protocols are used.
No, your new utility meter does not require any maintenance by the home or business owner. As before, the City of Cartersville will take care of all maintenance. However, please know that this new meter has transmitting technology that allows your meter to be read remotely.
- AMI runs on the Sensus FlexNet communication network, which securely and reliably transmits consumption data on the industry’s only private, storm-hardened network
- Smart meters only typically emit about one watt of radio frequency. In comparison to cell phones and wireless routers, which emit anywhere from one to two watts. Smart meters also transmit radio signals only once every four hours, with each transmission lasting 5/1000ths of a second
- The FlexNet communication network is private, which means you’ll never have transmission interference or have to share frequencies
- The AMI network is designed for 100% coverage, even during major storm events, delivering two times the redundancy as compared to the competition, who operate in crowded, unpredictable and unlicensed environments
- In the point-to-multipoint architecture used by Sensus, routing is very deterministic. All endpoints transmit their data and all collectors that receive the message pass it to the head end system. No routing is required, but a log is maintained as to the communication statistics and the collectors that each endpoint uses to communicate
Source: UMS
This first batch of new utility meter installations will take place beginning March of 2023.
The new system will include improved meter reading technology that will save labor time, prevent recording errors, minimize wear and tear on vehicles, minimize the need for city employees to go on the private property of our customers, and water leaks will be identified earlier by analysis of data collected.
In rare instances, the main cut-off valve to your home may be left off. This will occur when the City of Cartersville technicians and Utility Metering Solutions installation team is not able to pressurize your home following the installation.
The normal cause of this condition is when an inside spigot is opened during the installation and subsequently left open. The water is not turned back on to ensure a sink or bath tub does not overflow with the customer not home to turn the water off.
In these cases, your water will be left off and a door hanger will be on your door providing you a point of contact to call or to have your water turned back on immediately.
No. The technology operates as a very low-powered signal that is regulated by the [FCC], against interference. Interfering with the operation of other electronic devices is unlikely.
No. You can expect the same high-quality utilities you've been getting from the City of Catersville.
This technology will enable the Electric System to be notified of a power outage and start the response to the outage much quicker. On top of that, it will allow them to spot certain conditions, such as transformer overloading, prior to it causing an outage.
The Water Department will be notified of water leaks much sooner, so they can address the problem as soon as possible.
And the same goes for the Gas Department. If a leak is determined, they will be notified immediately and can take care of the potentially dangerous situation much sooner.
The technology in the Sensus brand smart meters use radio signals to transmit meter data, and will not negatively affect health or privacy. In fact, overall health will be improved and privacy enhanced by replacing vehicles and manual visits to your home with environmentally clean radio communication. The wireless portions of the system will be operated according to Federal Communications Commission rules and will not interfere with other radio frequencies in the area. The transmitters use one-quarter of the power of a cellphone transmission. In fact, exposure to radio waves from smart meters is tiny compared to cellphones transmissions and other electronics within a typical home. Total transmission time is typically less than 5 seconds per day.
Contact Information
10 N. Public Square
Cartersville, Georgia 30120
770-387-5607
Mon - Fri, 8am - 5pm