herman millican supt. metering operations austin energy...austin energy stats 2 • approximately...
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Herman MillicanSupt. Metering
OperationsAustin Energy
USA
Austin Energy Stats
• Founded in 1895, AE is a Municipally-owned electric utility
• 437 square mile service territory, 11 Sq miles dually certified
• Own or are part-owners in Gas, Lignite and Nuclear power plants in TX
• Contracts for Renewable generation totaling 452.1 MW
Austin Energy Stats 2
• Approximately 370,000 Residential customers• Just under 67,000 C&I customers• Latest System Peak Demand was 2628 MW on
August 23, 4PM (CST) • Last fiscal year’s annual sales were 10,848
GWH• Member of ERCOT• Not opted -in to deregulated markets • But are surrounded by deregulated TX market
First Deployment Challenges
• Five Major Universities• Multi-Family Units• 6000 Apartment Complexes in the Austin
Area• Close to 200,000 Units• Move In/Out Reads (Off Cycle Reads)• AE Back Office Resources
• Service Orders Generated• Service Trucks on the Streets
Targeted First Deployment
• Multi-Family Units• Electric Only Accounts• Single Phase Meters• New Construction Multi-Family Units• Hard to Read Meters
• Network Meters (Downtown)• Airport Metering• City of Austin (Municipal) Accounts
Lessons LearnedFirst Deployment
• 2002-2003 AE installed 127,000 1-Way meters, primarily on apartment complexes
• Manually Closing Service Orders• Crossed Meters• Maintaining Accurate Meter Inventory• Customer Communication Plan
Second Deployment Challenges
• 2-Way Network to Remaining City Area• 330,000 Additional Residential and
Commercial Customers in the Austin Area• Meter Inventory Control and Purchasing• AE Back Office Resources
• Automate Service Order Closures• Phone Support
Second Deployment Meter Implementation Team
• Established internal cross functional inter-departmental AMR team
• Established a Deployment Team to install the meters -• Austin Energy• AMR provider• Installation Contractor
Second Deployment Customer Communication Service
• “Special” call center created, trained in field implementation procedures, the exchange process, new meter functionality, and escalation call management
• Dedicated customer service professionals (CSR)• Dedicated phone lines
• CSRs were truly knowledgeable and able to communicate smoothly with both the Project customers and field crew.
Second Meter Deployment Timeline
• March 2008 - Meter Exchange & Customer Call Center was developed
• April 2008 - Meter installation began• May 2008 - Community outreach increased
due to large number of installations• August 2009 - Mass Deployment completed
(98% installed)
Second Meter Deployment Statistics
• Mass meter exchange of 340,000+ meters• Project duration of approximately 2 years• Few customer complaints – 3.8% customer
calls about exchange; only 231 requests for accuracy test
Pre-AMR Process to Obtain Customer Read
Post-AMR Process to Obtain Customer Read
• KW and PF for all non -residential customers• ORR – check DB for last night’s read or
request to meter for real-time read• CSR can respond to customer within 2
minutes
Lessons Learned
• Communications and coordination are CRITICAL – both internal and external
• Auto -registration is the way to go • Correct GPS is crucial
• Expect EVERY business process to be affected by AMR meters & data
• Develop Extensive Testing & Quality Control processes
Lessons Learned
• Track everything (meters, software upgrades, linked systems)• Be able to identify new meters physically
and electronically• new meter codes for meter models,
program versions & functionality• Develop post-deployment process to
manage radio & meter inventories when exchanging AMR meters
Lessons Learned
• Develop Change Management processes to ID & define problem, create work-around, document fix implementation process
• Take pictures of exchanged (old) meter dials
Benefits Gained
• Billing Cycle Services• Elimination of Estimated Bills and Re-
Bills• Reduction in Non -billable Consumption• Reduction in Uncollectible Write-Offs
Benefits Gained
• Customer Service• Reduction in Service Visits for Customer
Problems• Vacancy Monitoring• Off-Cycle Reads and On -Demand Reads
Benefits Gained
• Metering Reading and Operations• Elimination of Special Reads (Move
In/Move Out)• Avoided Vehicle and Equipment Costs• Reduction in Employee Injuries• Accelerate Replacement of Old Meters
(Increase Revenue)• Database clean -up• Improve Metering Accuracy
Current Stats
• For the Month of March, 2011• 434,000 Reads• 367,000 Residential• 67,000 C&I• 1300 Skips (0.3%)• 110,000 One-way• 324,000 Two-way
