Benefits of Advanced Metering
photo credit: UMS
Why Advanced Metering Benefits the City and Customers
Upgrading to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) makes electric, gas, and water utilities more efficient, responsive, and future-proof. That’s because AMI:
- Provides real-time data on utility consumption for accurate data measurement and more efficient billing
- Identifies issues before they become costly problems
- Reduces diagnostic and response time
- Immediately notifies our Gas, Electric, and Water departments of leaks or other issues. That way, they can address the issues much quicker than before
At a glance, AMI can verify power outages, perform remote-service disconnects and reconnects, facilitate prepaid metering, and much more.
All of the data gathered by advanced metering infrastructures are made available — in real time and on-demand — to [the City] and [our] customers. The result? Improved operations and better customer management.
AN ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE TURNS METERS INTO DATA-GATHERING SENSORS
AMI meters aren’t just meters — they become sensors that gather important information that make your processes more responsive — and effective.
These sensors provide a host of benefits, including lowering operating costs, improving customer satisfaction, and preventing issues before they turn catastrophic.
Advanced metering infrastructure meters deliver real-time alerts for water, gas, and electrical utilities when, for example:
- Power is lost or restored
- Potential tampering has been identified
- Limits (in water and electricity) have been exceeded
- Thresholds of energy consumption have been surpassed
These alerts offer a multitude of benefits. For example, an increase in typical water, gas, or electric usage during a set time period could signify a possible leak. With AMI, [the City's utility departments are] made aware of the issue immediately. We can then determine if the issue is, indeed, a leak — and can address the problem promptly.
Not only that — these smart meters make it possible to collect and deliver data daily, several times a day, or even as quickly as every 5 minutes.
It’s why smart cities use advanced metering infrastructure. Smart cities rely on the incredible amount of real-time data delivered by AMI sensors and devices to create more efficient cities — and improve quality of life.
Here are some examples of how AMI completely transforms [the City's] approach to diagnosing — and responding to — service issues and disruptions:
- Water Pressure: When a customer reports low water pressure, AMI meters can test that water pressure in real time from a convenient account dashboard. There’s no need to send someone out to test in person.
- Electrical Outage: AMI pinpoints the cause of an outage — before customers had the chance to call in the outage. That means [the City] can address the problem quickly.
- Gas and Water Leaks: When a customer calls suspecting a gas or water leak, [the City] can confirm their assumptions over the phone — in seconds.
BETTER BILLING
AMI generates a more consistent and accurate billing system, resulting in fewer recording errors and fewer customer complaints.
Data intervals can be specified in as little as 5-minute increments. This gives utilities the flexibility to customize billing periods based on a customer’s preference — rather than based on set meter-reading schedules.
Yet even with these different billing periods, AMI automates the process, so there’s less oversight needed, and fewer man hours required.
ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE AS A PREVENTATIVE TOOL
AMI can identify issues before they grow into larger problems. From leak detection to pressure regulation, temperature monitoring, and more, advanced metering infrastructures give [the City] far more control over every component of your infrastructure — so tiny problems never become catastrophic.
For example, AMI meters can identify water pressure drops and will report immediately if any water is flowing back into the system. Faster reporting means faster response time — helping [the City] avoid unwanted contaminants from compromising your drinking water.
AMI helps [the City] spot possible gas and water leaks faster by showing unexpected spikes in consumption at certain hours of the day among end users.
An advanced metering infrastructure can also save [the City] — and [our] customers — money with instant water-leak detection and real-time monitoring of unexpected spikes or voltage drops in electricity usage.
Leaks are one of the most common causes of water waste. Unfortunately, these leaks often go unnoticed until it’s too late — costing [the City] thousands of dollars. AMI meters detect leaks instantly — and notify [the City] before that leak becomes more costly and problematic.
Remote Connect and Disconnect
Advanced metering infrastructure enables the utility to remotely connect and disconnect electricity, gas, and water.
This helps utilities turn meters on and off depending on occupancy, non-payment issues, and pre-paid service offerings — without sending a technician out in the field.
It’s also a powerful tool to have in the event of emergency situations — such as to support firefighters and first responders who need utilities turned off at the scene of a catastrophe. Before AMI, these types of services would have required the scheduling of service appointments — often days in advance. With AMI, remote connect and disconnect happens in an instant.
EMPOWER CUSTOMERS WITH BETTER — AND EASIER — DATA
Advanced metering infrastructures deliver an impressive amount of data — data that can be passed on directly to customers.
This information helps you better understand why your bills may be higher one month and lower the next. This level of data transparency essentially removes [the City's] utility as the gatekeeper of information.
Beyond personal usage information, AMI also helps [the City and our] customers identify and confirm potential leaks.
In the event of a power outage, you can see real-time data on the cause of their outage and an expected timeframe when the outage will be remedied.
Smart meters will empower consumers to better manage their utility costs and respond to pricing incentives that encourage both conservation and load shifting to off-peak periods.
Benefits to Customer Service Representatives
Customers aren’t the only ones who benefit from the convenience and real-time data AMI provides.
Customer service reps have immediate access to each consumer’s consumption data. This helps minimize disputes — reps can give that customer a detailed picture of how much water, gas, or electricity that customer uses — and when. In other words, they can investigate, diagnose, and solve a customer’s complaint in seconds, with data provided.
CONCLUSION
Advanced metering infrastructures allow utilities to conserve more resources, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase employee safety. A properly designed and operated AMI solution should be able to deliver all of these benefits.
AMI is a critical platform — and building block — for increasing efficiency, performance, and customer satisfaction.
Some of the benefits utilities see with an advanced metering infrastructure include:
- Reduced costs for metering and billing
- Fewer truck rolls
- More accurate billing
- Fewer customer disputes
- Improvements in operational efficiencies
- Lower outage costs and fewer customer inconveniences due to faster restoration and more precise dispatching of repair crews
Source: UMS, our contractor for the AMI Project
