South Central Power began it's automated meter reading (amr) project 1999. The project focused on two specific AMR devices, one was the early phone-based device, which attached to the consumer phone interface, and the other was a power line carrier device. Problems were apparent with these devices almost from the beginning.

The quality of the phone service was not always sufficient. If a consumer had the phone service either turned off or disconnected, the device no longer worked. If the consumer decided to switch from a landline phone service to cellular service, once again the device was useless. The phone-based device also seemed to be highly susceptible to power surges. South Central Power (SCP; Lancaster, Ohio, U.S.) was basically dependant upon another utility to run its utility efficiently. After installing several thousand of these devices, SCP decided to remove all phone-based devices and change completely to a power line carrier system manufactured by Hunt Technologies (Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, U.S.).

SCP set a goal of 15,000 installations a year and an ultimate completion goal of mid-2006. In some years, installations exceeded 20,000 and there are presently less than 1000 meters left to install. The installations began with residential and small commercial accounts. SCP engaged a contractor to help handle the massive amount of meter replacements. The utility also had to make accommodations for office staff to be able to process an enormous amount of paperwork and enter data.

With the amount of meters needed, SCP retrofitted regular I70S, 200-A meters with AMR modules and purchased a variety of solid-state meters with integrated modules to accommodate the type of receiver installed in each substation. The utility explored and implemented multiple options for substation receiver communications, including cell phone, landline, radio and satellite. Along with the receivers, SCP installed line-switch devices to benefit supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and AMR system where required.

As the amount of power line carrier devices grew, SCP established separate Windows databases for every 30,000 meters. SCP then converted these databases to just one sequel server database, making daily maintenance and reviewing data much easier.

Estimated and self-read meters have been virtually eliminated. This was especially beneficial in one extreme rural area of the territory where SCP read meters only once a year. For the remainder of the year, the utility was dependant on consumers' self-read to determine budgets and average use. Bills that were once estimated because of dogs, locked gates, fences and so forth are no longer a problem.

With the growth of the company, no additional staff was needed and no layoffs were executed. Jobs were reduced by turnover, retirement, job changes and promotions.

Field trips to consumers' homes for basic transfers of service from one name to another were reduced tremendously. The utility saved trips to 15,965 accounts from 2003 to 2005, resulting in an audited tangible savings of US$478,950 for SCP.

The AMR data allowed for the identification of 277 accounts involved in either theft or tampering from 2003 to 2005. SCP was able to resolve these issues before an accumulated amount of usage could occur. In 2005 alone, 362 dead and stuck meters were found directly as a result of AMR data. This saved the utility considerable non-metered usage.

SCP was able to completely revamp its billing system to bill by substations instead of cycles. This evened out the number of bills going out for each billing segment. Previously numbers varied widely.

With the power line carrier device data, customer service reports and billing inquiries provide up-to-date information. This is extremely useful in handling complaints and inquiries about power use. The new solid-state meters are more accurate in recording kilowatt-hour usage, providing for more exact billing.

Load data can now be used from AMR information for transformer sizing. Phase identification and location can be tied together for accuracy with the utility's database and AMR system. Also, line, phase and circuit switching can be identified in underground subdivisions.

Determining the best communication setup for each individual substation had its own challenges, including landline, cell phone, novanet satellite, direct-way satellite and sharing switches. Surprisingly, just finding warehouse space for all the meters before installation and after removal was an issue. Returning to a retrofit site to replace a stuck meter was always an unplanned activity.

While the overall impact of AMR is extremely positive, the large scale of the meter changes and line maintenance demanded by this implementation was a drain on some of SCP's staff. There were fewer staff to maintain and troubleshoot routine problems for the entire service territory. Also, training personnel for the physical implementation and maintenance issues, as well as office staff for the data and implementation processes, took its toll.

The large scale of change outs created more paperwork that had to be entered into the company's database, deploying the AMR system database, and troubleshooting errors in paperwork and data was a substantial task. The actual conversion of multiple databases to one sequel server database to eliminate chances of duplication and errors was an extensive “project within the project.”