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As the
sixth-largest consumer-owned utility in the state, this dependability
must stretch across an impressive 6,471 square miles, including
all of Imperial County along with parts of Riverside and San
Diego counties. This constitutes an average of 140,000 electrical
bills issued annually—a figure that's expected to double
by 2015. Combining this rapid growth with IID's expansive,
desert landscape, the challenge becomes maintaining a constant
state of readiness—and predictability—inside and
outside the organization, so that when changes occur, the
utility is poised to change with them. This ultimately became
the foundation for a meter initiative launched by IID in 2005,
Rate Implementation for Time-of-Use: Meters to Cash Project.
Bolstering
the initiative were aging electromechanical meters and manual
meter reading, both of which began impeding IID and its ability
to protect the flow of progress. Additionally, they had no
way to effectively encourage agricultural and other C&I
customers to eliminate consumption during peak periods, or
even shift their energy usage to off-peak periods, which would
allow IID to operate its facilities more efficiently. The
rate analysis group also needed a vehicle for implementing
new rate structures; they were falling behind compared to
the rest of the industry.
Compounding
the issue, IID's remote location has always made recruiting
new talent difficult, resulting in few qualified staff to
support new technologies and IT infrastructure. This was in
addition to the fiscal complexities many consumer-owned utilities
face in an effort to keep rates for customers low.
"Staffing
and budgetary constraints go hand-in-hand," says Shane
Jones, a business analyst for IID. "We have a limited
pool of resources to draw from for adding systems and any
new technology ultimately puts a lot of stress on our department."
This changed
the dynamic of an initiative that originally only took into
account replacing meters and reading processes. The utility
began looking for an IP-based remote meter reading solution
that utilized hosted software. The hosted solution would need
to work in conjunction with IID's existing billing system
while integrating its various data collection technologies
— without requiring additional expertise or more staff
in the field. The new system would need inherent time-of-use
(TOU) functionality to lessen peak demand and peak usage by
C&I users and also web-based presentation to allow customers
to analyze usage patterns. Relying on the previous success
of Itron's MV-RS® data collection system for
its keyed reads, and prior satisfaction with Itron's staff
and support, IID again looked to Itron.
Solution
IID elected to have Itron install and configure its software
in Itron's Oakland data center, affording the utility with
the fully-hosted solution it desired. From Oakland, Itron
performs meter data collection and processing and sends files
to the utility's billing system. Also included in the service
is hardware administration, back office processes and system
administration of IID's meters.
This was
made possible with IID's purchase of:
- 400
CENTRON® and SENTINEL® IP-addressable meters from
Itron
- MV-90
xi Service Mode, Itron's proven solution for interval data
collection, management and analysis for C&I metering
devices
- Itron
Enterprise Edition (IEE)™ Meter Data Management to
validate and process its data and translate it complete
with date and timestamp for billing export to MV-RS format
for use in IID's internal systems
- IEE
Customer Care, enabling web-based, self-service access for
the utility and its end-customers for viewing account, meter
and consumption information
"When
Itron revealed the true depth of their offering including
hosted software and meter reading services complete with data
applications, we jumped at the opportunity," says Raquel
Lopez, a utility rate analyst with IID. The utility was so
pleased in fact that the hosting contract—initially only
planned for the pilot program—eventually turned into
a long-term arrangement.
IID's board of directors approved two pilot TOU rates, which impacted just a small number of its large commercial class to start. Some of which were those agricultural cooling customers to encourage off-peak consumption. IID also offered innovative pricing to a group of commercial customers with 2MW of energy usage annually.
Benefits
"Our rate payers pay our salary," says Lopez. "Our
goal was to look for the best possible deal and service for
our money in executing our program, and Itron was very helpful
in this aspect."
Dividends
have also been realized in terms of staffing. No additional
employees or expertise were required on-site to maintain the
new systems. Via hosting, Itron is able to manage meter change
requests as field conditions change. What's more, the system
can be converted to an in-house system at a future date, if
desired.
Aside
from cost, the flexibility of Itron's software has allowed
IID to import register and interval data from a non-Itron
automated meter reading (AMR) system, an added benefit. IID
has achieved successful evaluation of new metering technologies
in a way that optimizes the existing system processing and
interfaces, which mitigates risk.
The utility's
use of Itron technology has gained accolades from its third
largest customer, the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The prison and its affiliates throughout
California all have different ways for managing and viewing
their energy consumption. Word traveled quickly regarding
IEE Customer Care and its rich set of analytical tools, proactive
alerts and scheduled reports. Says Harry Franey, chief for
the energy management and sustainability section at CDCR,
"We compared Itron's system to what our colleagues had
in place to view their energy use and the other prison systems
were very envious of how plainly and simply our data was presented.
They liked the color, graph and bar variations; flexibility
in looking at demand, or kWh, or both; and viewing by time
and weekday versus weekend."
Future
plans for the utility include rolling out permanent time-of-use
rates to its large commercial customers with 350 kW of consumption
or more per year. Eventually, IID would like to redesign and
restructure many of its current rates and implement various
new rates and structures, which would involve smart meter
infrastructure and technology. The IID Rates Unit is actively
pursuing smart metering for a small residential sample group,
collecting interval data to further expand its rate analysis
and better understand how changes impact its customers.
Says Lopez,
"We want to encourage changes in our customers' energy
usage patterns by providing metering technology and tools
that are easily accessible and understandable. These tools
must also be dynamic enough to make a customer want to change
the way they use energy. Itron has afforded us this opportunity—to
educate our customers on energy conservation, to shift energy
load during critical peak periods and understand energy usage
patterns. This allows our utility to maintain our goal in
reducing stress to our system load as well as providing greater
reliability—all to the ultimate benefit of our customers."
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