MTEMC is deploying Carina's Universal Metering Device (UMD) for energy data collection, management, and control.

"With such a large and rural customer base, our service call cost per customer is high," said Chuck Barber, marketing/key accounts coordinator at MTEMC. "We thought we were asking a lot when we said that we wanted a solution that would improve customer service, reduce costs, increase efficiency, was itself cost-effective, and was quickly and easily deployable."

MTEMC will immediately use the UMD's integrated remote disconnect/reconnect functionality to reduce operating costs associated with disconnect activity while simultaneously benefitting from this effective head-start solution for additional AMI features. The unique design of the UMD allows for communication over a variety of existing backhaul networks including digital cellular and ethernet in an effort to use existing open communications infrastructures. This allows the utility to avoid the capital costs and delays involved in building proprietary fixed networks exclusively for AMI metering applications.

MTEMC will also deploy the UMD in strategic locations to collect voltage and power quality data, outage notification, and line loss information.

Another concern for MTEMC was training and guidance through the migration process, which differs from utility to utility. Barber says, "One of the biggest surprises is the level of hands on support for training and deployment that Carina has provided. It has been above and beyond the call of duty compared to other companies. That, in our minds, speaks volumes to receive that type service."