Low-Tech vs. High-Tech AMP: The 21st Century IT Debate

 

Some want to cut costs, others to improve service.

Uncertain economic times have always moved companies to find ways to cut costs. Utilities and energy companies are no different. They have turned to automated meter reading (AMR) during the past years in increasing numbers.

But many technology experts disagree on strategy: should utilities go high-tech or low-tech on AMR?

According to a recent survey by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), in which 48 investor-owned utilities participated, 79 percent responded that they were utilizing AMR. Of that group, 37 percent chose phone line systems, 33 percent chose mobile vehicle AMR, and 10 percent chose fixed network AMR. In addition, 24 percent had chosen some other type of technology, such as power-line carrier systems or walk-by meters.

Bill Mayer, EEI's manager of customer operations, says today's AMR is a very flexible technology. A low-tech application simply uses AMR to supplant its human counterpart in collecting monthly reads. AMR does this accurately and cost effectively while at the same time improving safety and customer satisfaction. A higher-tech application, with options like interval metering and two-way communications, opens the door to many additional opportunities in the areas of demand response, service reliability, and broadband services.

Most of these high-tech options have long been available to the large commercial and industrial accounts, whose service requirements or rate schedules call for more data to be collected more often. Utilities are now deciding which level of AMR technology to deploy for the residential and small commercial classes, and whether to apply AMR surgically or system wide.