Building on the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in their water department, Washington State-based Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) is continuing with the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for its power department.
TPU deployed AMI technology from Xylem, including Sensus Stratus IQ residential electric meters and the FlexNet communication network. The network delivers 6.5 million registered reads each day, TPU said.
“We no longer have to estimate meter reads because of access issues, since the advanced meters are remotely managed. We receive accurate data to appropriately bill customers and ensure efficient customer service, especially during severe weather outages,” said Sally Mohr, AMI program delivery director for TPU.
The upgraded infrastructure aided in storm recovery as recently as January, TPU said. After a violent storm with high winds and heavy rainfall left thousands in the area without power, TPU restored power within hours.
TPU also deployed bellwether ally water meters and smart gateways with pressure sensors to ensure near real-time pressure management.
“We have already seen proactive pressure management help us anticipate customer issues preemptively,” said Dan Martin, TPU senior data analyst. “Recently, during routine maintenance, a detected pressure fluctuation enabled our crew to address a lodged rock in the valve within hours, averting potential customer impacts.”
“Xylem has consistently demonstrated responsiveness, and we appreciate that our team has direct visibility into our data,” said Mohr. “This level of transparency ultimately empowers our customers to take control of their bills and become active participants in managing their water and electricity usage.”
A research article in the Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks journal argues that with the evolution of new system level paradigm, distribution automation (DA) and AMI system’s convergence, it is possible to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of power restoration schemes with AMI acting as a feedback system to the DA system supporting required communication latency, bandwidth and protocols.
Additionally, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has said smart meters can reduce power outages and restoration times. Smart meters allow utilities to better understand if an outage is related to the utility service or is related to a problem within the customer’s premises, NEMA said, and smart meters can help utilities understand the scope of an outage better than if customers had to self-report.
Read the full case study here.
