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customer
service improvements, revenue cycle enhancements—are a determining
factor for utilities choosing to automate their reading operations.
ChoiceConnect offers a progressive blend of solutions that
lets you deploy what you need, where you need it, when you
need it.
And best
of all, the system components of ChoiceConnect have the flexibility
to upgrade as your business needs change. From handhelds to
mobile AMR to fixed networks, ChoiceConnect offers a scaleable
meter data collection solution that can grow with your business
challenges.
Blue
Ridge Cooperative
As with many electric cooperatives, the importance of customer
satisfaction in a changing regulatory environment requires
Blue Ridge Cooperative to continuously evaluate available
methods for delivering service in the most productive and
economical fashion possible.
Geographically,
the cooperative's service area encompasses more than 1,800
square miles in South Carolina, with terrain ranging from
gently rolling farmland on the southern side of the system
to the state's most mountainous and wooded areas to the north.
A heightened
focus on meter reader safety, overwhelming challenges with
hard to access meters and the need for improved efficiency
influenced Blue Ridge to expand its AMR system beyond a handheld
strategy.
In 2006,
Blue Ridge purchased two Itron Mobile Collector units to address
these challenges. Using the mobile collection system, Blue
Ridge was able to go from five meter readers reading five
separate routes down to only one meter reader. The upgrade
to mobile AMR significantly reduced its number of estimated
reads and had a noticeably positive impact on customer service
ratings.
Additional
benefits of using the Mobile Collection system included minimizing
transportation and vehicle maintenance costs associated with
traveling through rough terrain. The reduced read time allowed
Blue Ridge to free up three contractor positions for an estimated
savings of $70,000 annually. In addition, the coop estimates
that by eliminating the contractors’ vehicles at $15,000 savings
per vehicle was realized.
In conjunction
with these successes, Itron wanted to begin a series of comparison
studies to acquire metrics describing the benefits and cost
savings associated with further expanding an AMR system to
include CENTRON® Meters with High Power ERTs.
Using
repeatable and scripted test methods, Blue Ridge and Itron
calculated that the benefits of handheld and mobile AMR with
low-power CENTRON meters over traditional methods reduced
route times, increased efficiency, and improved reliability.
By upgrading to high-power CENTRON meters, reading distances
with handheld units was increased ten-fold and distances for
mobile systems almost doubled. And with the high-power devices,
overall read times were cut in half with both handheld and
mobile devices.
City
of Nelson
The rate at which Canadian labor costs are rising is unprecedented.
Canadian meter readers are paid 46 percent more than meter
readers in the United States. When Nelson Hydro needed a solution
to help reduce these operational costs and also meet regulatory
demands, they turned to Itron for assistance.
Itron
delivered a complete, expandable solution that included CENTRON
meters and Mobile Collector Lite drive-by technology. The
easy-to-use, portable drive-by solution utilizes FC200s with
external radios to gather consumption and tamper data. Automating
its meters eased some of the burden and cost of certifying
its aging meters and gave them a more accurate reflection
of customer consumption.
To date,
Nelson Hydro has installed 3,000 CENTRON residential meters
in rural areas where meter reading costs are highest. The
utility has already realized a reduction in re-reads with
an increase in read accuracy. In addition to these benefits,
operations efficiency with respect to meter reading and billing
operations has noticeably improved. Prior to the mobile upgrade,
one rural meter route absorbed five days time to read—it’s
now down to one. The time required to read a billing cycle
has been reduced by 90 percent. All together, that adds up
to $150,000 per year savings in labor and equipment costs.
“It’s
a relief for me that every device and product we’re using
is lined up with one supplier,” said Mike Amos, operations
manager, Nelson Hydro. “This is especially relevant for a
utility such as ours that envisions a complete conversion
to AMR.”
Overton
Power District #5
Overton Power District #5 is a non-profit special improvement
district in Nevada aimed at providing quality electric service
at the lowest possible cost. Lengthy reading times, complications
with verifying high reads and customer complaints led Overton
to search for a reliable AMR solution proven to reduce operational
expenses, improve customer service and reduce the time needed
to collect meter reads.
Overton
chose Itron’s ChoiceConnect AMR suite because it contains
multiple devices that can meet a range of route issues specific
to its needs. The Overton solution includes Mobile Collector
Lite for drive-by readings and meter investigations with the
FC200 handheld, as well as the Itron Fixed Network for collecting
fixed-base reads. The Fixed Network architecture coupled with
high-powered endpoints uses Itron’s proven meter data management
software to collect and manage frequent consumption and meter
data, reliably and accurately.
Overton’s
largest route, with approximately 3,700 meters, used to take
a full work day and a few additional hours to complete. By
upgrading its existing ChoiceConnect infrastructure with two
Repeaters to gather and consolidate distant readings, the
route now takes two and a half hours to finish.
In addition
to efficiency gains in meter reading, Overton has been able
to perform a majority of its service orders remotely with
the Fixed Network. A few clicks in the Fixed Network user
interface enable Overton service representatives to verify
move-in/move-out dates, look up meter reads for a particular
device, and generate and print usage graphs for historic reference
or to share with customers.
“The Fixed
Network has benefited more than just the meter department,”
said Christian Woodruff, meter services representative, Overton
Power District #5.“ It has helped the entire company save
money and work more effectively.”
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