North to Alaska North to Alaska Metering to the ExtremesMetering to the Extremes

By Ronald B. Via

Even with the possibility of deregulation looming in the future

for many utilities and with today's uncertain energy markets,

most utility companies still build their business cases for AMR

based simply on automating the meter reading process for

monthly billing. It is not very often that an electric utility

builds a business case for metering automation that goes

beyond the capabilities of conventional automated meter

reading (AMR) systems available on the market today. Most

utilities in North America, and in the United States in

particular, have the luxury of an expansive infrastructure that is

already in place, and it is this infrastructure that allows them to

choose from a variety of AMR systems. The power distribution

grid covers the vast majority of the nation. There is extensive

landline and wireless communications systems in place, and

most areas are accessible by road.

It might surprise you that some utilities in North America don't

have access to the distribution grid and do not have the

expansive roadway infrastructure that most other utility

companies do. Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

Incorporated (AVEC) is one such utility company. AVEC

covers the largest geographical area of any electric coopera

tive in the world. It has 52 member villages that span from

Kivalina in the far north to Old Harbor on Kodiak Island in the

far south, and as far west as Gambell on St. Lawrence Island

(within sight of Siberia), to as far east as Minto, located

approximately 80 miles west of Fairbanks. Of the 52 member

villages only Minto is accessible by road. All other AVEC

communities are accessible only by airplane or cargo marine

vessel during certain times of the year.

Because of the extreme conditions in AVEC's service area, it

was obvious to them when they began looking at metering

automation that conventional AMR technology such as walk-

by/drive-by fixed network and power line carrier (PLC) would

not meet their needs. The villages in AVEC's service area are

500 to 600 miles from their home office in Anchorage. Each

village in their service area has a local power plant and there

are no tie lines between most villages. To provide electrical

power to their customers (approximately 7,000 meter points

serving 21,000 customers), AVEC has over 144 diesel

generators that run a cumulative total of more than 410,000

hours per year.

In the summer of 2005, AVEC began deploying Elster

Electricity's EnergyAxis® System to enhance their business

operations and provide better customer service. It was clear to

AVEC that the EnergyAxis System's state-of-the-art smart

metering technology was the most cost-effective metering

solution that would meet their needs. The EnergyAxis System

uses smart electronic REX® meters (residential meters) within

a controlled mesh network with two-way communications that

provides a robust and reliable communication system. The

network is a repeating, self-configuring, and self-healing

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North to Alaska North to Alaska Metering to the ExtremesMetering to the Extremes

By far the biggest advantage that AVEC found in the

EnergyAxis System's smart metering technology was its ease

of deployment. The system is easily deployed by simply

installing meters, so AVEC did not need to design or pay for an

expensive infrastructure to have state-of-the-art metering

automation in their extreme service area. According to Randy

Vallee, Technology and Training Superintendent at AVEC, “The

deciding factor in choosing Elster's EnergyAxis System was

ease of installation. We needed a system that we could install

without a lot of special instructions and effort. This is especially

important in the rural locations that we operate in.”

“Our first installation was in Old Harbor, located on Kodiak

Island. We installed the meters and system in one day. We

installed 118 meters, including nodes, with a four-person crew.

The toughest part of the installation was correcting the system

maps to reflect the new meters and their locations relative to

the transformers and feeders. The Kodiak Island installation

had a couple of long jumps that would challenge the distance

of the EnergyAxis System's two-way communications. But it

was very gratifying when I called Elster support to read the

system. All the meters came up immediately and read with

high signal strength. This proved to us that the EnergyAxis

System's controlled mesh network is a robust communication

system.”

AVEC found that the EnergyAxis System's performance was

impressive. Randy said, “I was planning to install an additional

AVEC's initial deployment in 2005 targeted five of its villages:

Wales, Old Harbor, Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk and Teller. Randy

Vallee said, “We chose our locations for the first phase of

deployment for a couple of reasons. We chose the village of

Wales entirely based on the winter elements the metering

system would be exposed to. Most of the homes in the village

are covered with drifting snow in the winter. When this

happens, it makes reading the meters difficult, if not

hazardous, because tunnels must be dug in the snow to get to

the meter on the house. Additionally, this location has a high

penetration wind generation system with multiple power

injection points, so we expect this location will provide a good

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network and all the REX meters in each village communicate

—to a central collection point Elster's A3 ALPHA® meter

—collector at the power generation plant. Some of the REX

meters will have the optional remote connect and disconnect

feature that allows AVEC to disconnect power for delinquent

accounts, since some of the areas are not accessible for

many months of the year. Most of the areas served can be

covered with as much as ten feet or more of drifting snow in

the winter.

REX meter to use as a repeater on a long stretch of road. The

repeater would have been about 2,500 feet from the first REX

meter installed outside of a metal building where the A3

ALPHA meter collector was installed. But we did not need the

additional meter repeater because we were transmitting over

water and the repeating mesh network performed well. When

the EnergyAxis System's Metering Automation Server (MAS)

was installed in my office, and we read the meters at this

location, we had a 100 percent successful read rate. I was

very pleased when I plotted a couple of the meters on the

maps and saw the communication distances the controlled

mesh network plotted to return to the A3 ALPHA meter

collector. The dynamics of the EnergyAxis System's controlled

mesh network at this installation is absolutely awesome, and

bordering on almost unbelievable.”

test of the system's robustness. The villages of Kasigluk and

Nunapitchuk have a tieline between their locations and were

chosen to test the new system in inter-tied communities,

especially since the community without the primary generation

source has a back-up generator that will alter the power flow

source during an outage.”

AVEC found additional value in the EnergyAxis System

because REX meters with the remote connect/disconnect

feature have the disconnect switch installed inside the meter;

thus they have the same outward appearance as meters

without the disconnect switch. This feature was important to

AVEC because of rural Alaska's culture. With the remote

connect/disconnect switch out of view, it protects the privacy of

utility customers. While this might seem trivial in the lower 48

states, it is very important in rural Alaska because of the social

impact within the cultures of these small villages.

Meera Kohler, President and CEO of AVEC, comments, “Life

in an Alaskan village is about as rustic and remote as it gets.

But that does not mean that our members do not expect and

enjoy the same technology that is emerging in the lower 48

states. Every rural school has broadband Internet access and

students learn from teachers hundreds and even thousands of

miles away. Small local medical clinics are connected via the

Internet to doctors and technicians in larger hub communities,

so that state-of-the-art medical care can be provided locally. It

About the AuthorRonald B. Via is a Vice President of electricity metering, Elster

Electricity, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina. Via's responsibilities include

strategic market planning, bottom line financial performance, sales

objectives and long term growth projections.

ron.b.via@us.elster.com

About the CompanyElster Electricity, LLC offers integrated, cost-effective solutions

including advanced electricity meters, communication solutions and

metering automation systems for residential and C&I applications,

designed to meet the diverse metering requirements of a global

customer base.

www.elsterelectricity.com

REPRINTED FROM METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 3 2005

North to Alaska North to Alaska Metering to the ExtremesMetering to the Extremes

is only logical that we should be able to access electric meters

instantaneously from our office in Anchorage to diagnose

outages (individual, neighbors or entire feeders) and to be

more responsive to our members' needs. Going to AMR

means being able to automate our billing system and allow

members access through the Internet to view and pay their

bills. Being able to remotely connect and disconnect meters

was also a major draw.”

Even though electricity is expensive in rural Alaska, at an

average cost of 40 cents per kWh, the introduction of stable

electricity has brought about many changes in these villages.

They have better health care, improved housing, schools,

water and sewer systems, improved communications and new

businesses. At Elster Electricity, our vision is to develop

products that our customers value and that enable them to

improve their business operations and deliver better service to

their customers. I believe that AVEC is just the beginning of a

trend now starting within the utility industry. You might say,

utilities are beginning to redefine AMR and what features and

functionality they expect from their metering systems. As we

move forward into the future, I expect to see more utilities

discover how they can use and leverage the state-of-the-art

smart metering technology that the EnergyAxis System offers.