Evolution of smart meters and AMI technology
The advent of AMI 2.0 technology has enabled a new era for utilities, promising improved operational efficiency, enhanced customer interaction with the grid and modernized power grid applications. However, in some cases across the US, early and recent AMI implementations have fallen short of these ambitious goals.
The initial foray into smart metering was marked by a focus on transitioning from AMR to remote reads over the air. While this functionality has become commonplace across US utilities, the more ambitious goals of advanced analytics and customer data access have been challenging to fulfill and require a renewed focus to enable the promise of AMI 2.0 technology. The latest EY Future of Energy Survey reveals that the most significant trends anticipated to have a positive impact on the industry are the adoption of new technologies, especially operational technology, coupled with the evolution of the workforce to effectively support these advancements.
Thus, an AMI 2.0 era brings new advanced capabilities for AMI, positioning it as a critical component for broader grid modernization efforts. Electric meters have evolved into sophisticated devices that enable utilities to modernize operations and foster innovation. The rise of distributed energy resources (DERs), distributed intelligence “at the edge,” and increased customer demands for energy information have accelerated the need for utilities to evolve and enable these use cases. As many utilities now seek funding for AMI 2.0, they face growing demands from regulators and ratepayers to justify the substantial costs involved in pursuing these upgrades.
To capitalize on the promises of AMI 2.0 technology and successfully execute on digital transformation, utilities must lay a robust technical foundation to support advanced AMI use cases that will enhance customer satisfaction, increase interoperability among utility business capabilities and improve operational efficiency.
Understanding the past, embracing the future: AMI implementation challenges and goals for AMI 2.0
To succeed in the AMI 2.0 era, utilities must acknowledge insights and lessons learned from previous AMI implementations. Let’s look at where early and recent AMI implementations fell short and how a new approach to AMI 2.0 programs can help address these challenges.
AMI implementation challenges
The first generation of smart meter implementations were largely focused on remote reads, remote disconnect and integration with outage management. While many utilities also implemented customer-focused programs related to online billing presentment and usage alerts, challenges in understanding the true nature of customer desires, pain points, incentives and barriers to adoption limited some AMI customer benefits.
Further, many early and recent adopters of AMI did not anticipate the additional investments in IT infrastructure needed to enable access to data across the enterprise and support AMI use cases. This lack of preparation meant that foundational IT work related to infrastructure, cloud, data warehousing, cybersecurity, network, middleware, development and testing were often underfunded.
Additionally, the exponential increase in data volumes from AMI meters did not have corresponding data governance plans or appropriate changes to data architecture and master data management, which led to stress on core systems and IT infrastructure during and after implementation. Many utility business functions developed their own “shadow IT” data platforms replicating the same AMI data across the enterprise. This often resulted in project schedule delays, IT workarounds and scope reduction.