Enhancing the value of information collected by advanced meters : customer and operational procedures

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters will have the ability to transform electric power utilities if data is utilized in an appropriate manner. This presentation provided an overview of the benefits of AMI. Case studies were used to present details of new meter data management (MDM) tools developed by Nexus Energy Software. The segmentation and loading aspects of AMI have the capacity to handle complex billing processes as well as increase distribution efficiency. AMI multi-dimensional aggregation can increase revenue protection and provide outage support. Customer bill integration and analytics can aid utilities in forecasting and load research activities. Demand and response, and customer AMI applications can lower customer service costs and leverage more effective pricing programs. A critical peak pricing support tool was used at a California utility to send monthly enhanced information electronic mail to increase customer understanding of behaviours on costs. The result was an amplified customer response to dynamic pricing. Day ahead notification is now regularly provided for peak periods. It was concluded that meter data has little value until it is aligned and synchronized with customer and asset data. Systems should be expandable over time to support new business processes and associated data elements without the need for customization. refs., tabs., figs