AMR & METERING DEVICES

16 Utility Products • October 2005 • www.utilityproducts.com

With the recent enactment of theEnergy Policy Act of 2005,soon all utilities in the US will

be required to offer time-based rate sched-ules to any customer who requests it. HR 6Section 1252 Smart Metering (paragraph14A) states “Not later than 18 months afterthe date of enactment of this paragraph,each electric utility shall offer each of itscustomer classes, and provide individualcustomers upon customer request, a time-based rate schedule under which the ratecharged by the electric utility varies dur-ing different time periods and reflects thevariance, if any, in the utility’s costs ofgenerating and purchasing electricity at thewholesale level. The time-based rate sched-ule shall enable the electric consumer tomanage energy use and costthrough advanced meteringand communications tech-nology.” Paragraph B goeson to define types of time-based rate schedules thatmay be offered. In a nut-shell they are:• Time-of-use (TOU) pric-

ing where electricityprices are set for specifictimes of day in advance.Typically these rates willnot change more thantwice a year and arebased on the utility’s costof generating or purchas-ing electricity at thewholesale level. Cus-tomers pay for energyconsumed during theseperiods according to theTOU prices that are es-tablished in advance, al-lowing customers to varytheir demand and usageas TOU prices change.

• Critical peak pricing (CPP) where TOUpricing is in effect except for certain peakdays. On certain peak days, prices mayreflect the costs of generating or purchas-ing electricity at the wholesale level andconsumers may receive additional dis-counts for reducing peak period energyconsumption.

• Real-time pricing (RTP) where electricityprices are set for specific times of day inadvance and reflect the utility’s cost ofgenerating or purchasing electricity at thewholesale level. RTP may change as of-ten as hourly.

• Credits for consumers with large loadswho enter into pre-established peak loadreduction agreements that reduce a util-ity’s planned capacity obligations.

At first glance, satisfying the require-ments set forth in the Energy Policy Act of2005 might seem like a daunting task toany utility that has not yet established aplan for implementing demand responseprograms based on TOU metering. Sinceregulators and policy makers are still in theprocess of defining what functions and fea-tures a smart metering system should have,some utility companies may be at a loss onchoosing the most cost-effective and viablesmart metering system, or having a plan ineffect to comply with these federal regula-tions within 18 months. The good news isthat economical smart metering systemsare available on the market today that canbe easily deployed as customers requesttime-differentiated pricing on their energyusage and have additional features that canstreamline business operations.

This article provides an overview of El-ster Electricity’s EnergyAxis® System, anadvanced metering system that enablesutilities to meet the demands of the EnergyPolicy Act of 2005 in a short timeframewithout an infrastructure overhaul. Themain components of an advanced meter-ing system are:• Smart electronic meters;• Smart communications; and• A smart meter- (Continued on page 18)

Smart MeteringSystems

Solutions for Utilities to Meet the Demands of the Energy Policy Act of 2005

By Raymond Kelley

• Usage data and interval data derivefrom the same time synchronized mea-surement point, thus eliminating com-plex validation, editing, andestimation;

• All metered data is auditable to the me-ter that must adhere with industry stan-dards for performance and accuracy;and

• Scalability by reducing scheduled datareads since the metered data is storedin each end-point.

ENERGYAXIS SYSTEM METERS INCLUDE:• REX® meter - single phase meter with

900 MHz communications – for resi-dential accounts;

• A3 ALPHA® meter with 900 MHzcommunications – for polyphase com-mercial and industrial accounts; and

• A3 ALPHA meter collector – data col-lector and local area network (LAN)controller.

Smart CommunicationsElster’s smart meters provide two way

communications using unlicensed 900MHz radio frequency (RF) technology.The 900 MHz communication networkis meter based for easy, cost effectiveinstallation with no additional commu-nication infrastructure required. Thiscommunication network is comprised ofmeter data collectors and meters that canall function as repeaters to form a con-trolled mesh topology that is reliable androbust. Elster’s controlled mesh com-munication network is a self-installing,self-configuring, and self-healing net-work that adapts to resolve communica-tion obstacles or problems. Severalfeatures make the EnergyAxis Systeman ideal cost-effective metering automa-tion solution.

The LAN data collectors are meters.This eliminates the need to mount datacollectors on pole-tops or towers to in-crease the coverage of the local 900MHz RF network. Use of a repeatingnetwork greatly expands the meter col-lector coverage areas. Meter collectorscan be either single phase or polyphasemeters. The advantages of meter col-lectors are:• Meter collectors cost less than pole-top

data collectors.• Meter collectors are less expensive to

install than pole-top data collectors.Units are installed at ground level, sono bucket trucks

ity. The EnergyAxis System is builtupon intelligent electronic meters thatcan be remotely configured to measurebi-directional energy usage, demand,TOU, interval data, and critical tier dataand store this data within the meter.Storing the data directly within the metercreates the foundation for a robust sys-tem that can ensure: • Data is not lost when communication

problems occur;

18 Utility Products • October 2005 • www.utilityproducts.com

ing system that can control, monitor,and configure the overall network ofmetering devices to provide the dataand services required for advanced me-tering initiatives focused on demandresponse.

Smart MetersThe cornerstone of a smart metering

system is an intelligent electronic meterwith two-way communication capabil-

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or crews are needed. Also, no specialpower wiring is needed.

• Meter personnel can install meter col-lectors, no special crews or coordina-tion with distribution operations areneeded.

• Meter collectors are easier to site, es-pecially in areas with underground ser-vice and no utility poles.

• Meter collectors are less expensive tomaintain and operate.

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Other characteristics of the Ener-gyAxis communications system include:• The ability to deploy a robust, repeat-

ing architecture. Each REX and A3ALPHA meter on the LAN with 900MHz two-way communications canfunction as an RF network repeater andeach meter collector can manage up to1,024 meters on the LAN. This greatlyexpands the coverage area of the com-munications network, lowers system

capital cost, and reduces communica-tions expenses.

• REX meters and A3 ALPHA metersusing two-way spread spectrum fre-quency hopping technology are self-registering. The meters are installedlike ordinary meters. No special instal-lation procedures are required to set upthe LAN, just plug-and-go. The metersautomatically register with the metercollector, which in turn notifies themetering automation system of the me-ter registration.

• The two-way communication networkis self-healing. When local RF com-munication conditions change and ameter can no longer communicate withits meter collector, the meter automat-ically registers itself via an alternatepath with the same or a different metercollector (see Figure 1).

Smart Metering SystemsThe EnergyAxis System’s Metering

Automation Server (MAS) controls andmanages Elster’s advanced meteringsystem. It uses standard, wide area net-work (WAN) communications to com-municate with A3 ALPHA metercollectors.

The MAS server scales to handle alarge mesh network of interconnectedmeters that are self-installing, and self-healing. MAS monitors the EnergyAxiscommunication network, synchronizesthe network time, and automates theconfiguration of the network and metersto provide a unified advanced meteringsolution that is easily integrated with autility’s existing Enterprise Systems(Billing, CIS, Load Research). TheMAS server also manages the networkand provides reports designed to high-light system or device issues that mayneed special attention.

The MAS server streamlines dataflow to Utility Enterprise Systems bypackaging, storing and transmitting me-ter data, events and meter status in XMLformat. In addition, MAS providesXML-based web service interfaces tofully automate all operations, including:scheduled data collection, meter instal-lation, meter configuration (TOU, de-mand, load profile, CPP), meterconnect/disconnect requests, and on-de-mand meter reads for off-cycle billingor customer service.

The EnergyAxis System is an opensystem designed to (Continued on page 22)

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meet the needs of utilities in any mar-ket. It is suitable for large-scale deploy-ments and small-scale deployments. Itcan be used for strategically targeted ap-plications such as hard to access areas,high-turnover areas, or a specific cus-tomer base for TOU billing. When com-bined with electronic smart meters thatare capable of computing billing datawithin the meter, the system’s two-waycommunications capability and flexible

functionality allow it to support manyrevenue-generating and cost-cutting ser-vices.

The system gives utilities the capabil-ity to remotely: • Perform scheduled and on-request re-

mote meter reading services for billingor other data needs;

• Configure meters for consumption, de-mand, TOU and critical tier pricingrates, with no on-site visits or meter

change-outs required;• Monitor tamper indications and alarms;• Connect and disconnect service at the

meter; and• Monitor power outage and restoration.

ConclusionThe impetus behind smart metering as

defined by the Energy Policy Act of 2005is to allow energy consumers to partici-pate with their utility company to volun-tarily manage their energy consumption.Regulators and policy makers who hadan influence on including smart meteringin the bill believe this has the potential ofsaving billions of dollars per year andease the strain on an aging power distrib-ution infrastructure. It will also empowerconsumers to conserve energy when en-ergy supplies are short.

The ideal metering technology to im-plement successful cost saving pro-grams should benefit both the consumerand utilities. Even though there are reg-ulatory organizations and policy mak-ers focused on defining the meteringtechnology needed to implement de-mand response programs, it is possiblethey may not have a clear vision withinthe next 18 months of what smart me-tering technology is needed to make de-mand response programs a success.Nevertheless, this should not inhibitutilities from moving forward to meetwhat the future holds.

The EnergyAxis System is designed tobe flexible so that utilities can adapt thesystem to meet uncertain future needs.Utilities need a system that can be config-ured in the most cost effective manner tocollect the data for each customer as re-quired by demand response programs.The EnergyAxis System is a proven smartmetering system that has been deployedor piloted since its release in 2002 by over40 utility companies. The feedback fromutilities that have deployed the system hashad a consistent theme. The system is easyto deploy, does not require a lot of addi-tional expense for infrastructure changes,was up and running with minimal effortand training, and provides much more use-ful information than other metering sys-tems on the market today. o

RAYMOND KELLEY is systems softwaremanager for Elster Electricity, LLCraymond.kelley@us.elster.com

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