AMI Meter Deployment
Talquin Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Talquin Water & Wastewater, Inc.
October 20, 2011
TALQUIN ELECTRIC
INC.
SlideCOOPERATIVE,
Title
• Serving Approximately 43,444 Members Co-op Wide
• Content A
• 52,110 Active Electric Accounts
• Content B
 48,382 Residential
 2,501 Commercial
 227 Large Power
• Over 4,400 Miles of Energized Line
 11.9 Services Per Mile
• 26 Substations
• Winter Peaking System
 Approx. 300 MW Demand
2
TALQUIN ELECTRIC
INC.
SlideCOOPERATIVE,
Title
Serving Leon, Gadsden, Liberty and Wakulla Counties in NW Florida
• Content A
• Content B
3
TALQUIN WATER & WASTEWATER, INC.
•
20,420 Active Water Accounts
– 19,745 Residential
– 664 Commercial
•
4,357 Active Wastewater Accounts
– 4,198 Residential
– 159 Commercial
•
TWWI owns 18 Community Water Systems through the four county area
•
630 miles of pipeline with 1,500 hydrants, 5,000 valves, 14 elevated storage tanks, 30
pressure tanks, and 44 wells providing an average of approximately 6 million gallons per
day.
•
Tanks range in size from 100,000 gallons to 1,000,000 gallons for elevated tanks and 500
to 15,000 gallons for pressure tanks.
4
AMI Issues Unique To Talquin
• Member-Read Residential Billing Process
• True-Up of Unbilled Revenue Due to Member Read System
• Absence of Existing Read Routes to Streamline Deployment
Within Billing Cycles
• TEC Employees Have Not Visited Accounts Monthly
• Gaining Access to Property
• Large Service Area & Diversity in Density of Member
Accounts – Different Concerns of Members
• Water Service
• Territorial Agreement with City of Tallahassee
Initial Steps Towards AMI
• Began Aclara PLC (TWACS) AMR Pilot - May 2007
• Two significant obstacles to overcome
– How to read water meters via power line?
– How to read electric meters not served by TEC distribution?
• Change in management = change in direction
– All of 2008 focused on AMI research
– Site Visits, Technical Expos, and RFI’s
• Must have an adequate and easily maintainable water
solution.
• Goal was to “future proof” Talquin for the stilldeveloping and ever-changing Smart Grid requirements.
Evaluation Process
• Evaluated five different AMR/AMI technologies
– Aclara, Landis + Gyr, Sensus, Cannon, and Tantulus
• Parameters by which all were evaluated, close to 30.
–
–
–
–
–
Meter Vendor Variety
Outage and Restoration Notification
Ability to Read Water Meters
Web-based Interface
“Pinging” Capability
• Narrowed down to three and released RFP per RUS
specifications
• Not just lowest bidder, but lowest evaluated bidder.
• Sensus FlexNet was recommended and approved
Financial Case for AMI
Meter
Readings
Cash Flow
Analysis
Transportation
Expenses
Revenue
Protection
Labor
Conversions
Outage
Management
Contractor
Services
Revision
Financial Case for AMI
Savings Summary
-2%
7%
Traditional Meter Reading
Off-cycle Reads
20%
35%
Accounting & Customer Service
Outage Management
Revenue Protection
30%
Meter Operations
Other Annual Savings
3%
3%
Cumulative Cash Flow
$35,000,000
$30,000,000
$25,000,000
$20,000,000
Benefits
$15,000,000
Costs
$10,000,000
$5,000,000
Cum Cash Flow
$0
-$5,000,000
-$10,000,000
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Years
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Financial Case for AMI
Meter Reading
Injuries & Damages
$200,000
Office Space/Overhead
Hand Held Maintenance
$150,000
Hand Held Computers
Cost
Vehicles
$100,000
Benefits & Pensions
Supervision
$50,000
Direct Labor
Contractors
$0
Current
Proposed
Chart 4
Meter reading Assumptions
Number of times meters are read each year
% of meters read by utility personnel
Number of full time readers (or equivalent) used for billing reads
% of meters read by contractors
Contractor price per read
Average annual meter reader salary
Number of meter clerks
Average annual clerk salary
Number of supervisors
Average supervisor salary
Benefits as a % of salary
Number of vehicles
Annual cost per vehicle
Current number of hand-helds
Hand-held purchase price per unit
Average life of hand-held (Years)
Annual maintenance fee per hand-held
Annual overhead/office space
Annual cost of injuries to meter readers
Annual damages caused by meter readers
12
0%
0%
$
$ 32,000
1.0
$ 28,000
1.0
$ 40,000
63.0%
3
$ 9,120
3
$ 6,000
10
$
740
$
$ 6,000
$ 3,000
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Industry Average
Industry Average
Industry Average
Industry Average
Industry Average
Industry Average
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Utility Data
Industry Average
Industry Average
Financial Case for AMI
Revenue Protection
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$-
Current
Proposed
Meter Operations
Starting Watts (Electric
Only)
Meter Inaccuracy Water
Meter Inaccuracy Electric
Meter Retirement
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$Current
Proposed
NPV - $12,842,669
IRR – 34%
Profitability Index – 3.82
Breakeven Point – 5 yrs
Talquin’s AMI Deployment
• Ten Tower Gateway Base Station (TGB) Sites In Service to Establish
Fixed Wireless “Smart Grid” Canopy
– Five on existing microwave towers, four on elevated water tanks, and one on
a leased USFS tower
• Over 37,000 Residential Meters Deployed to Date
• Majority of Residential Exchanges Being Performed by Contractor, CMI
Services out of Chipley, FL
• Releasing RFP for Polyphase Meter Selection
• Integration With GIS Mapping System
• Integration With Outage Management System & Prediction
Technology
• Pilot Project of Sensus iPerl Water Meters in Service & Communicating
Member Awareness
• Utilize Focus Group Concept to Identify Concerns of Members –Target
Those Concerns
• Hold Open Houses
• Presentations at Community Events
• “TEC-Meter” Identifier in Lieu of “Smart Meter”
• Annual Meeting Booth
• Articles In Talquin’s Monthly Publication to Members
• Informational Posters in Area Offices
• Created Informational Brochures
• Postcards Mailed to Members – Advance Notification Immediately
Prior to Deployment in Their Area
• Signs Placed at Entrances of Subdivisions
• Information Packets Delivered at Time of Exchange
IT & Integration Partners
• Technical Nature and Required Integration With Other Critical
Systems Mandates That IT Be Involved From Conception of AMI
Selection & Planning Process
• Participation From Vendors of Integrated Systems
– Customer Information Systems
– GIS Mapping
– Outage Management
• Highly Recommend a Meter Data Management System
Maximize Use of Assets & Data Related to AMI
Deployment Tips
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clearly Define Responsibilities & Expectations of Contractor
Clearly Define Departmental Duties & Responsibilities
Test Sampling of Products Before Deployment
Install All Infrastructure In Initial Stages
Document Status of Meters – Photos of Existing & New
Document - Photo Condition of Member’s Electrical Service
Line Up Contractors to Respond to Emergency Repairs
Retain Meters for Minimum of Three Months – Billing Issues
Stage Full Promotion of “Bells & Whistles” With Timing of
Functionality – Integration Requires Time
• Be Prepared for Health Related Questions – EMF, etc.
• Do Not Install Meters With Remote Disconnects on Critical
Accounts – Traffic Lights, RR Crossings, MES Accounts, etc.
Issues Faced Since Deployment
• Isolated Pockets of Meters Failing to Communicate – Very
Limited in Scope - Required Installation of Repeater
• Inaccessible Meters
• Damage in Meter Bases Discovered During Exchange
• Remote Disconnect Failures Due to Water Intrusion Condition of Member’s Electrical Service
• Simultaneous Outage Notification Alarms in Dense Areas
• Discovery of PV Systems - Mechanical Meter Net Billing
• Give Consideration Into Decision to Allow/Not Allow OptOut Option (Privacy, Security & Medical Concerns)
Actual Image of Map Displaying Meter Icons of Accounts Affected by Device Outage
In Conclusion:
• Establish your Financial Goals
and Targets upfront
• Check the progress of the
project against your objectives
• Leverage fixed investment
against inflationary annual
costs of the current systems
For More Information Please Contact:
850-627-7651
Eugene Kanikovsky, Director of Financial Services
eugenek@talquinelelctric.com
Jeremy Nelms, Director of Engineering Services
jnelms@talquinelectric.com