CIS 2007 and AMI in a nutshell

Just returned from CIS 2007, a utility "customer information system" conference at the over-the-top Gaylord Palms resort in Kissimmee, FL (what other hotel features alligators, found treasure, and a tarpon-filled saltwater pond in the atrium). Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell was the keynote speaker. Despite a modest portrayal of what was better dramatized in the movie, wow, what an honor it is was to be in the presence of one of the great moon-era astronauts.

The conference was well attended by utilities large and small looking for new IS systems, and just checking out what was going on.

The Itron booth got a lot of attention for AMI (automated meter infrastructure), and we got a fair amount of people who stopped by just to get the basics on "smart" metering.

Here, in a nutshell, is the history of AMI:

Old Days: meter reader walks around the back of the house to find the meter, and write down meter read. This technique, still widely used today, has obvious inefficiencies and in accuracies.. After a while, devices were provided to readers so they could key in reads, rather than write them down. Although more efficient, this method was still prone to inaccuracies - and does little to keep the meter reader from getting bitten by the family german shepherd.

80's or so: Meter reading became more automated - thus Automated Meter Reading (AMR). Meter readers' handheld devices were enabled with remote-control like IR sensors to automatically take reads from an "ERT" (encoder receiver-transmitter) embedded in the meter. This method significantly improved accuracy, and enabling the meter reader to take readers from further away from the meter. These handhelds then moved still further away, to a meter reading vehicle for drive-by reads.

However, drive by and walk by readings can only be done cost effectively about once a month or so. What if the utility wanted to know about energy usage more frequently?

90's - 2000's: Fixed radio-frequency devices are embedded on poles throughout the city to receive signals from ERTs to create a fixed network. These reads were then transmitted to the utility. With a fixed network, the utility can take readings much more frequently than monthly. In fact "interval" reads, taken every 15 minutes or an hour, lets the utility know just how much energy a customer is using at a given time. Interval reads means that utilities can charge for energy properly - electricity costs more during peak times and less during off-peak times. Using less during peak times means fewer power plants and transmission lines are needed to push out all that power to customers at once.

Automated meter reading can be a huge cost savings to utilities- but it comes with the downside of losing meter reading positions. However, this hasn't been too big of a deal in an industry where many meter readers are close to retirement, and the rest have been welcomed into other utility positions.

While interval metering has been around for a while in the electric space for commercial and industrial customers, data processing speeds and cheap data storage has made this technique feasible for all customers.

Today: The meter communicates information frequently directly to a database. This database and associated software is referred to as an MDM (meter data management) system. In addition to enabling time-of-use rates, which in turn gives customers incentive to use less power on peak (and more power off-peak), it can provide the platform for other products like energy management systems - so end users can view and compare their usage to see how their properties are doing, and find ways to reduce usage, and save money.

Tomorrow: A truly "smart" meter is one that the utility can communicate with two ways - not only can it receive meter reads, but the utility can send signals back to the meter. Utilities are most excited about remote connect/disconnect capabilities. No longer will the utility have to send an installer out to a property everytime someone moves in or out. The old fashioned way of hooking up or disconnecting service can be especially painful around college campuses. Another more controversial benefit is the theoretical capability for a customer service representative to turn off the power during a contentious call with a customer who hasn't paid their bill.

Smart meters then can be a critical component of the smart home. Once the meter "knows" what the energy price is, and how much energy the customer is using, it can trigger controls to other devices in the home. For example, when electricity price hits a certain threshold, a signal can be sent to specially enabled thermostats, pool pumps, and clothes dryers to cycle on and off, or turn off altogether. With controllers in major appliances, customers can finally do things like turn down the heat from a web browser in their office, make sure that a vacation home has a porch light on when guests arrive, or charge up the electric vehicle only during the lowest cost hours of the day.


Back to the conference, there was excitement over the future of in-home displays of energy usage, and I was proud to show off (to selective prospects) my new online solution for displaying hourly usage to the mass market.

Thanks much to Julie Hance and Wendy Lohkamp at Itron who kindly broke down AMI to me in straightforward terms.