I spent a few days in March out in the field with our employees who are installing and servicing an automated meter reading (AMR) system.  This provided me the opportunity to meet with several of our members.  Most of them were curious as to how the system worked, what would happen with the employees whose jobs were to read meters, and what benefits would be gained with the system. 

The system is fairly simple in design.  An electronic module is installed in a meter to do two things:  (1) count the number of pulses or disk revolutions as kilowatt hours flow through the meter to your house or business, and (2) then transmit this information to our office.

The existing meters are being replaced with AMR equipped meters.  The old meters are brought back to our meter testing facility to be tested for accuracy.  If everything checks out, we reuse the meter by installing a module; otherwise the old meter is retired and replaced with a new electronic meter. 

The employees who were reading these meters are now assisting with the installation of the system, testing the old meters, performing system maintenance, and helping with collections as well as other tasks as they arise. 

A few of the key benefits include having the ability to read the meter regardless of the weather, reducing meter reading expenses, and having the additional kilowatt usage information to assist our members with analyzing monthly consumption.  These meters will also report when a meter is out of power and when the electricity comes back on.  It can notify us of meter tampering and can be equipped with a switch for remote disconnection.

Another benefit of this system is evident in the event of a module failure.  The meter is still able to register kilowatt hour consumption as it always did.  The module would be replaced so it could again accumulate kilowatt hours and communicate electronically.  However, the readings are retained on the meter itself so that an accurate record is maintained of the usage for the account.  Occasionally it takes two or three billing cycles to recognize an issue with a module.  Upon finding the problem, we replace the module and bill for the accumulated usage on the meter register.  Since this true-up can be a significant amount, we work with the member by setting up a payment plan.

We still have several thousand more meters to add to the system.  Our employees are working very hard to assure the system works properly and efficiently.  We appreciate all the cooperation you have given our employees as we visit your residence or business to perform this work.