By Peggy Richmond, AMPY Metering
Vision. Invention. Determination. It’s the stuff from which America was built. And, it’s alive and well in the rolling hills of Wisconsin where Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) defied conventional wisdom seven years ago by installing two separate AMR systems cost-effectively-forever changing the way U.S. utilities evaluate the business case for automatic meter reading (AMR) system installations.
“We didn’t have a blueprint at the time,” said Jayme Van Campenhout, WPS’ project manager during its AMR deployment and currently project director, environmental retrofit. “Now, other utilities have the opportunity to visit us and talk with other folks about the systems and vendors to find out what works and what doesn’t. That just didn’t exist for us then.”
Instead, WPS, through trial and error, found that two separate technology networks-wireless radio frequency (RF) for gas and power line carrier (PLC) for electric-were its most cost-effective route to full service automation.
Originally, WPS’ electric AMR system concept involved a hybrid of two networks; one which capitalized on RF technology to efficiently read meters in dense urban areas and the other which used PLC technology to reach remote rural landscapes. Eventually, the utility abandoned the RF portion of the design and chose to deploy an all-PLC installation using TWACS by DCSI to read its entire electric meter population and, WPS believed at the time, most of its gas meters.
Many industry insiders and more than a few WPS employees questioned the decision, claiming the PLC technology might prove more costly than other choices for urban deployments. But, DCSI was the only vendor WPS had encountered who could supply an hourly electric meter read and a daily gas read, two must-have system requirements. Furthermore, the system could read Sensus encoders for both gas and water, which fit the utility’s plan to implement one AMR system across all service types.
Unfortunately, wiring the DCSI module to the gas meter at each home proved too time-consuming for such a large installation. Typically a meter change-out worker can install about 40 to 50 new electric meters daily in a diverse territory, such as WPS serves. Hardwiring the module to the gas meter reduced a technician’s installation rate to an average of 10 to 12 meters per day. The cost and time of running the wire and the associated follow-up maintenance caused WPS to re-evaluate its initial plan, choosing the wireless RF Hexagram system instead for its gas service.
Van Campenhout said, “We pioneered the concept that a utility could feasibly and cost-effectively deploy a wireless network over a power line network and get the best project. By deploying Hexagram and DCSI to cover the gas, electric and water, we saved somewhere between 12 to 14 million dollars.” Subsequently, DCSI and Hexagram were both selected by PG&E for essentially the same roles that WPS discovered. Also, ESCO Technologies Inc., DCSI’s corporate parent, has since acquired Hexagram Inc., along with Nexus Energy Software, further underscoring the wisdom of WPS’ discovery.
Meter Developments Critical to Roll-out
With 98 percent of the entire WPS system now automated, Van Campenhout and Jon Brown, WPS’ electric metering supervisor, can look back and laugh at some of the headaches that came with testing a revolutionary system model.
“I like to joke with people that we installed closer to a million meters,” said Van Campenhout, “even though we only have about 740,000 [electric and gas] meters total. Being first-time users of many of the products, we ran into bugs or were continuously replacing obsolete versions of components with product upgrades. The technology was changing so quickly, and we were always in constant product roll-out and new product development with our vendors.”
Landis+Gyr was one of the meter vendors with whom WPS had a long-standing relationship and with whom they worked to develop some of the new products. While the most common residential electric meter platform used was the Form 2S, WPS required a full range of meter platforms, including network, poly-phase, service disconnect and extended range metering options. The utility, therefore, spent a lot of time working with its meter vendors, making sure alternate platforms or endpoints were continually developed.
“We worked with the sales and technical staff at Landis+Gyr to identify the kinds of meters we needed,” explained Van Campenhout. “We still have on-going discussion with Landis+Gyr, especially in terms of the higher-end, three-phase meters. But six or seven years ago, it wasn’t like it is today. Then, some of the meter companies might have worked with a dedicated AMR vendor, but certainly it was only three or four years ago that we saw the light go on and everybody realized AMR options were driving meter sales. That’s when everybody started to develop multiple AMR offerings across their metering lines.”
During the deployment, the first Landis+Gyr meter modified to meet the needs of WPS was the electromechanical MX meter. The MX was chosen as the electric platform for Phase I construction, during which WPS trialed 100,000 endpoints, still using the DCSI system to read gas encoders. In addition to an under-glass module, the MX meter offered a Lexan cover that could support a 3-port meter design. By adding a small wiring box to the front of the meter cover, WPS could then run a wire out the module through an interface board to the gas meter.
 WPS used Landis+Gyr’s MX meter for a 100,000-endpoint rollout of AMR technology. |
WPS also pushed Landis+Gyr to integrate the DCSI module into some of the company’s more unique meter configurations, such as a Form 12S 480V or Form 2S 480V on the AXS4 meter, or a Load Control option on the Altimus or the AXS4 3-port meters. A new interface board was developed for the Altimus solid-state meter. The board synched with the module and operated load control devices attached to water heaters and other appliances in the home. About 2,500 of these load control meters were manufactured and shipped to WPS.
Single Data Warehouse Benefits all Departments
At the same time WPS was pushing manufacturers to extend their product lines, the utility undertook the development of its Universal Operations Center as a means to transparently funnel data from its primary and secondary AMR systems out to users and to its billing/CIS system. Building the Universal Ops Center, or “UOC,” took at least a year, but the AMR system’s success depended on its completion. Each of WPS’ AMR systems is operated independently, but universally connected by and accessed through the UOC.
Investment in the Universal Ops Center is already paying dividends across customer service, operations, metering and other departments throughout the utility. WPS has used AMR data for myriad purposes that include outage management, responding more quickly to customer complaints, billing investigations and identifying bad equipment, such as a bad refrigerator compressor and a well pump grounded by lightning. WPS also has been able to improve its cash flow operations somewhat because AMR devices can now deliver regular reads from meters once inaccessible during harsh winter weather. Usage thresholds also can trigger a read in seasonal homes, which before AMR installations, typically were not read six months out of the year. Now, if usage in these homes reaches a certain rate, a bill is generated.
WPS also credits their AMR system with helping them catch a local burglar. The burglar’s modus operandi of pulling the meter to cut power to any security system located inside a seasonal home, created a series of outages noted by utility personnel. Working with the local county sheriff’s department, WPS was able to pinpoint the time of the burglaries and map a geographic area most likely to be the burglar’s next target. Additional patrols posted to the area caught the burglar in the act his next time out.
Brown relates, “We’ve saved a ton of O&M dollars, not having to send line electricians out to investigate if power is on or off, and the call center’s using it [the system] quite a bit for billing investigations. But, that was the whole selling point of AMR for our management. How can we get more information, more data with which to make our system operate better, provide new services to our customers and improve the way that we do business? For us, AMR was never about simply replacing meter readers, the economics just weren’t there.”
Peer Review and Validation
The success of WPS’ model is evident to other utilities still investigating AMR. Several utilities, including a handful of large investor-owned utilities with millions of meter points, have not only sought advice from Van Campenhout, Brown and the rest of the WPS team, but have declared publicly their intention to follow the general WPS model.
“Our model of deployment, the uniqueness we brought to making this project work, has been a proven method by which other utilities can now confidently implement a large-scale AMR system,” says Van Campenhout. “Our model can be replicated, and that’s the key.”
Lessons learned along the way, whether adopted in detail or not by other utilities, encompass strategy, methodologies and streamlined approaches WPS found to be economical throughout their deployment. For instance, WPS automated their rural service areas first in order to work out system bugs before tackling large urban population centers. They created a cookie-cutter standard for substation equipment insertion. They worked cooperatively with vendors throughout the project, while nevertheless writing good contracts that protected the utility in the event meters failed. They also admit they underestimated staffing requirements and should have spent more time in pre-project planning.
And, they take that last bit of advice pretty seriously. For even while the team is working to automate the last difficult-to-access or unique meters and routinizing its on-going maintenance and trouble-shooting procedures, Brown has one eye on the future. When asked what’s next for WPS, Brown replies, “As we finish up the details of our construction phase, we want to start pre-planning now for what the next technologies are going to be, instead of just waiting for them to happen.”
Given the past performance at WPS, the industry can anticipate something special.
For the past 10 years, Peggy Richmond has concentrated on marketing metering and CIS systems to the electric utility industry for companies such as Landis+Gyr, AMPY Metering, American Innovations and Envision Utility Software Corporation. She currently chairs AMRA’s Marketing Committee and also participates in the development of the association’s annual symposium, Autovation. You can contact her at (765) 491-6236.
