Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2010
Choices for Smart Grid Implementation
Adrianus G.van Engelen
New Hampshire Electric Cooperative
Plymouth, NH 03264-8622
vanengelena@nhec.com
Abstract
Utility companies are under pressure to reduce
their own operating costs and support energy
savings, while providing more services to their
customers. These new services will be expected to
include better information for customers to help them
make decisions about energy use and optimizing
current energy availability. This paper describes the
use of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) as a
way of monitoring energy usage, increasing
operating efficiencies for the utility, and enabling
information flows for supporting energy-saving
schemes. Several options for implementing AMI are
discussed. The impact of recent developments in
communications protocol standardization is
considered. The discussion includes the criteria and
factors that should be used for making a choice
among the possible options. The specific case
examined here is an electric cooperative utility
company in New Hampshire.
1. Introduction
The ability to access real-time information is
increasingly important in an electric utility’s ability
to cost effectively deliver reliable power and affects
both the profitability of the utility and customer
satisfaction. Operational, commercial, and regulatory
demands require almost instantaneous access to
continuous information as well as the ability to
provide customers with up-to-date electric usage data
and rate information. Knowing which meter or
endpoint, or, in other words, which customer, is
without power at any given time is important from an
operational and outage management point of view,
allowing for better planning, most efficient use of
resources, and shorter outage times. From a
commercial standpoint, rising operating costs and
higher customer expectations with regard to pricing
options and quick resolution of power outages require
978-0-7695-3869-3/10 $26.00 © 2010 IEEE
J. Stephanie Collins, Ph.D.
Southern New Hampshire University
Manchester, New Hampshire 03106
j.collins@snhu.edu
better-quality data in order for a utility to operate as
efficient as possible. The Energy Policy Act of 2005
[1] requires the Department of Energy to study the
benefits of time-based pricing and demand response
programs. Further regulations that require utilities to
make these programs available to its customers can
be expected in the near future. The Public Interest
Energy Research program managed by the California
Energy Commission [2], for example, has conducted
research into benefits of distribution automation
applications and Advanced Metering Infrastructures
to electricity and gas rate payers in the state of
California. The findings identified benefits such as
cost reduction through automated meter reading,
more efficient use of utility assets and investments,
more accurate billing, more efficient outage
restoration, improved pricing and tariff structures,
and better electricity usage information for
customers.
In order for a utility to be able to make time-
based pricing and demand response programs
available to its customers it needs more timely and
detailed electric usage data. This data is needed to
create comprehensive load profiles that are the basis
for demand response programs. Electric meters must
be read every hour as supposed to every month. A
traditional door-to-door or drive-by meter reading
process is not sufficient to meet these new near-real-
time data requirements as it simply does not provide
enough data. Consequently, utilities have been
exploring cost-effective and reliable alternative
technologies that best fit their specific business
needs. A significant number of, mostly cooperatively
organized, utilities have implemented Automated
Meter Reading (AMR) systems and more recently
Advanced Metering Infrastructures (AMI) [3]. The
five states with the most significant AMI system
deployments are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin,
Connecticut, Kansas, and Idaho [3]. Many utilities
are interested in AMI technology. A 2007 study by
Chartwell [4] found that at least 70 percent of utilities
are either considering or implementing AMI systems.
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 Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2010
The implementation of such systems requires utilities
to make significant investments. The total capital cost
of implementing an AMI system includes endpoint
hardware (i.e. meters), network hardware,
installation, project management, and information
technology. Most evident is the need to replace the
traditional electromechanical meter at each service
location with a solid state or Smart Meter in order to
enable two-way communication. Considering that the
cost of a solid state meter is approximately $76 and
the cost related to the communications infrastructure
ranges from $125 to $150 per meter, a utility with
100,000 customers would need to invest anywhere
from $20.1 million to $22.6 million to implement an
AMI system.
The selection of and installation of an AMI has
many aspects. We will first describe an AMI and the
various technologies that are offered to implement
such a system as well as some of the functions that
each of these technologies make available to a utility
and its customers. We will then use the New
Hampshire Electric Cooperative and, in particular,
the characteristics of its service territory, to illustrate
the various issues and alternatives that must be
considered before a final decision can be made as to
what type of AMI implementation will be the right
option in their specific situation.
1. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)
Systems
Implementing an AMI system is fundamentally a
telecommunications project. An Advanced Metering
Infrastructure, or AMI, can be defined as a
comprehensive, integrated collection of devices, a
communications network, computer systems,
protocols, and organizational processes dedicated to
distributing highly accurate information about
customer electricity, gas, and water usage throughout
the utility for use by the utility and its customers. The
key principle is the exchange of information or
communication.
With the development of new technologies, the
AMI is expanding into the home of the customer,
allowing for the implementation of, for example,
time-based pricing and demand response programs.
This has resulted in an AMI being referred to as a
Smart Grid. The core business of a utility is to cost
effectively deliver reliable power. An AMI delivers
the information needed to do that more effectively. It
can also provide the information that allows a
customer to save energy.
AMI systems have evolved from primarily one-
way Power Line Carrier (PLC) systems, commonly
referred to as Automated Meter Reading (AMR)
systems. The functionality of AMR systems is, as the
name implies, limited to basic automated meter
reading and they were introduced to reduce the cost
of reading meters and improve the accuracy of
customers’ bills. The most significant characteristic
of an AMI system is that it provides two-way
communication as opposed to the limited one-way
communication of a typical AMR system. Two major
types of AMI systems can be identified: Power Line
Carrier and Fixed Wireless Network.
1.1. Power Line Carrier
Power Line Communication, or, more commonly
referred to as Power Line Carrier (PLC), is a system
that uses the existing power or distribution line
infrastructure of a utility to send and receive
information. The power lines are used to carry the
data from the endpoints or meters to a sub-station.
The communication from the sub-station to the
master station at the headquarters of the utility,
referred to as the backhaul, can be implemented by a
fiber optic connection. As part of the overall
communications infrastructure of a utility, this
backhaul can also be used to communicate critical
data concerning the status of equipment at the sub-
station. The major vendors that offer PLC systems
are Landis+ Gyr, Cannon Technologies, and Aclara.
Each of these vendors implements PLC using
distinctive modulation and networking technologies
resulting in different capabilities of each system due
to differences in speed with which the data is
transported. PLC systems can be implemented with
either one-way or two-way communication.
In a PLC system an injector puts a modulated
carrier signal onto the power line. The major
advantage of a PLC system is that, under normal
operating circumstances, all meters can be reached,
as opposed to a wireless solution, where 100 percent
service territory coverage is not necessarily possible.
The obvious disadvantage is that meters cannot be
reached when power lines are down. The main
concern with PLC systems is that they are generally
slow and provide less bandwidth than wireless
systems. The PLC system of Cannon Technologies is
an exception in that it is considerably faster than the
PLC systems of most of its competitors: an on-
demand read can be completed in approximately 3 to
6 seconds.
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Different modulation techniques are used.
Landis+Gyr, for example, utilize Frequency Division
Multiple Access (FDMA) modulation and Cannon
Technologies uses Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA) modulation to transmit data.
1.2. Fixed Wireless Network Systems
In a Fixed Wireless Network system the end-
points or meters communicate using radio signals,
carrying signals and data from meter to meter and
subsequently to take-out points. A Fixed Wireless
Network is fixed in the sense that the equipment to
collect the data (i.e. antennas, towers, repeaters, etc.)
is permanently installed. Communication between the
take-out points and the headquarters of the utility,
referred to as the backhaul, can be implemented in
various ways, using a combination of wireless
technology (microwave) and fiber optics.
The radio signals are affected by the materials
they must pass through (i.e. tree foliage, rain,
buildings, etc.) and the signal will gradually
attenuate. To resolve this issue, repeaters are
incorporated in the system to strengthen the signal
where meters are at a greater distance than the signal
can reach or are used to circumvent an obstruction
such as a building or mountain. Fixed Wireless
Networks are therefore better suited in an urban
setting where meters are closer together than in a
rural and mountainous territory where greater
distances need to be covered and signals are
obstructed by the contours of the terrain. A
propagation study can determine how reliable a Fixed
Wireless Network will be in a given situation. In such
a study, geographic information and meter
coordinates (i.e. longitude and latitude) are used to
predict the signal strength from the transmitter in a
meter to points its vicinity (i.e. other meters). The
results from a propagation study allow a utility to
determine the feasibility of a Fixed Wireless Network
given the characteristics of its service territory. In
particular, where greater distances need to be covered
between endpoints or the terrain introduces obstacles,
the propagation study will identify how many
(additional) tower locations and repeaters are needed
to be able to cover the entire service territory. This
information is vital in determining the cost of a Fixed
Wireless Network.
Some of the major vendors that offer Fixed
Wireless Network solutions to implement an AMI
system are Itron, Elster, Landis+Gyr, Sensus, and
Tantalus. Each of these vendors combines the various
components of a Fixed Wireless Network into their
own specific design. Common network topologies
that are used are a either a star network or a mesh
network. In a star network a meter transmits its data
to a central collector and each meter must be pre-
configured to establish the communication path from
each individual meter to the collector point. Some
collectors might also have the capability to transmit
or forward data to a central collector. If, due to
equipment failure, a communication path is broken,
the utility will need to manually re-configure the
network to re-establish communication. A key feature
of a mesh network is that it is self-configuring and
self-healing. The meters themselves in a mesh
network act as repeaters and pass data and signals
from one meter to the next. Each meter is capable of
autonomously finding a nearby meter and
collectively the meters establish a path to the
collector. If one meter in the network is unable to
receive a signal, the transmitting meter will
automatically find another meter to re-establish the
path.
The use of wireless communication is heavily
regulated throughout the world. In the United States
it is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
that regulates interstate and international
communications by radio, television, wire, satellite
and cable. A license is required to operate in certain
parts of the spectrum, but, as in most countries, other
parts of the spectrum can be used license-free. Most
AMI vendors use the license-free Industrial,
Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands to implement a
Fixed Wireless Network. This reduces the cost and
complexity of implementing an AMI.
Some of the frequencies that can be used license-
free in North America are the 900MHz, 2.4 GHz, and
5.7 GHz bands. The 900 MHz band is commonly
used for the communication between meters because
this frequency has both a reasonable operating
distance and enough bandwidth for its particular
purpose. The typical operating distance for the 900
MHz band in a line-of-sight application is 15 to 25
miles (using 1W and 6dB gain antennas) and 20 to 60
miles (using 100mW and 16dB antennas). The
communication between electric meters is unlikely to
be line-of-sight and the reliable operating distance
drops to about 500 to 5000 feet in areas with too
many obstructions. High gain antennas do not
improve the distance because of the amount of
interference due to reflected radio signals. In fact, the
reliable operating distance between electric meters,
typically installed at no more than 5 feet off the
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 Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2010
ground is approximately 600 to 900 feet due to the
presence of buildings, trees, and shrubs. Furthermore,
the reliable operating distance can vary from season
to season: greater distances in the winter but shorter
distances in the spring and summer due to tree
foliage. The reliable operating distance increases in
cases where the meter communicates with a repeater
placed on a utility pole.
Tantalus uses unlicensed 900 MHz for
communication between individual meters (LAN)
and licensed 220 MHz (transmitting data from 20 30
miles) for communication between collectors and
towers (WAN).
1.3. ZigBee™ Technology
Thus far we have looked at the various available
technologies that carry data between the meter and
the utility. The next, and perhaps most critical, step in
the development of an AMI involves enabling
communication between the meter and an in-home
display and possibly other devices or appliances in
the home, such as an electric water heater, the central
air conditioning system, and, in the near future, other
appliances. The extension of the AMI into the home
adds a Home Area Network component to the
system, enabling true two-way communication
between the utility and the customer.
Although in many cases AMI vendors still utilize
proprietary technology to enable the communication
between the meter and an in-home display, more are
now considering using an open protocol, such as
ZigBee™, to establish that communication. Several
major AMI vendors, such as Itron, Elster, and
Landis+Gyr, have demonstrated that they offer
meters that are interoperable with the ZigBee™
protocol. For utilities this has the advantage that the
Home Area Network component of an AMI is less of
a limiting factor in deciding which vendor to select.
Each endpoint or meter will need to include a
ZigBee™ module to enable a Home Area Network
component to be included in the AMI. However, the
wider use of the open protocol among AMI vendors
allows for definitive choices as to what services and
devices (i.e. in-home display) will be offered. A
utility can equip each endpoint or meter with a
ZigBee™ module but postpone selecting in-home
devices until more options become available and
prices for these devices come down. The open
protocol also makes it easier to market specific
devices to residential, commercial or industrial
customers. As long as new products and devices use
the ZigBee™ protocol for communication, they can
easily be incorporated in an AMI. In the case of
proprietary technology, a utility would be dependent
on what the specific vendor would offer.
An important development at the regulatory level
further reinforces the position of ZigBee™ as the
Home Area Network communication protocol of
choice. The U.S. Department of Energy recently
established an Initial Smart Grid Interoperability
Standards Framework [6] to encourage the different
vendors that develop Smart Grid products and
solutions to develop software and hardware
components that will work together seamlessly. In
this framework, ZigBee™ is selected as the standard
for Home Area Network device communication. This
support for the ZigBee™ standard by the U.S.
Department of Energy will encourage more vendors
to develop software and hardware devices and
solutions using the protocol and provides important
long-term assurance for utilities that selecting
ZigBee™ is a sensible and relatively low risk choice
for Home Area Network communication in an AMI.
Zigbee™ is a wireless network standard that is
specifically designed to work with sensors and
control devices that consume little energy, do not
need high bandwidth, and communicate over relative
short distances. This technology is based on the IEEE
802.15.4 standard for wireless communication, and
has a range of typically 50 meters. ZigBee™ devices
operate in the license free 2.4 GHz ISM band. For a
utility, the obvious benefit of a wireless connection is
that no wires need to be installed between the meter
and the in-home device. The in-home device allows
the utility to provide the customer with up-to-date
electric usage and rate information.
Companies such as Comverge and LS Research
manufacture ZigBee™-compliant in-home devices
that are specifically designed to display information
from the electric utility. The purpose of all of these
devices is to provide information that the customer
can use to save energy and lower the monthly electric
bill. With pre-arrangement with the customer, they
could also be used by the utility to automatically and
remotely turn down an air conditioning unit during
peak use to lower the overall electric load in order to
prevent power blackouts.
1.4. Applications and Functions
Utilities do not implement AMI systems to
merely automate the process of reading meters. Such
systems are simply too expensive to be installed for
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 Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2010
that purpose alone. Automatically reading meters for
billing purposes is just one of the many applications
or functions that are made available by an AMI. The
ability to automatically read meters rather than
sending out a meter reader allows a utility to read
meters with a much higher frequency. Instead of the
usual monthly read, the utility can read meters daily,
hourly, or in even smaller intervals. Hourly usage
interval data can be used for various applications and
functions such as demand response, time-based
pricing, and load management. An AMI also supports
outage management, remote connect and disconnect,
and pre-pay systems.
Automated meter reading improves billing
accuracy because the actual read can take place on
the day that the bill for the customer is generated.
Automated meter reading also eliminates the need for
estimating usage in cases where the meter reader
cannot access the customer’s property or meters
cannot be read due to adverse weather conditions.
Reduction or elimination of estimated bills will
improve customer service and reduce related calls to
the call center of the utility. An AMI also allows a
meter to be read on demand. A customer service
representative can use a Customer Information
System (CIS) to read a meter while on the phone with
a customer. This can be useful when a customer calls
to close the account and a bill needs to be prepared so
that the customer can immediately pay the final
balance. The remote disconnect function will allow
the customer service representative to turn of the
power at that time as well.
Rather than changing the output of a power
station, utilities balance the supply of electricity with
the demand for electricity, known as Load
Management, with the use of Demand Response
programs. The objective of these programs is to
reduce the demand for power through pricing signals.
Using time-of-use pricing, a utility could offer
customers a lower rate during off-peak hours and
customers could react by doing the laundry in the
evening rather than during the day. To prevent
blackouts during a hot summer day a utility could
motivate customers to turn down their air
conditioners by charging a higher rate during the
peak hours, using critical-peak-pricing. The in-home
device of the AMI makes it possible to inform
customers about specific rates and influence
behavior.
Outage management is in part dependent on
customers calling in a power outage. An AMI that
provides direct access to the meter and the system
can therefore detect power outages at the meter level.
The utility does not have to rely on a customer’s
phone call but can use its Outage Management
System (OMS) to pinpoint outages and address them
proactively. Knowing the exact location of outages
enables the utility to more effectively and efficiently
dispatch the line crews and shorten the duration of
outages. Access to detailed meter-level outage
information is especially important in the event of a
large scale outage. It allows for better planning and
improved communication to customers and state and
local governments.
In an AMI system, meters can be equipped with
a remote connect/disconnect module. This allows the
utility to connect or disconnect the power for a
customer from the utility’s headquarters. Eliminating
the need to send out a crew to the customer’s service
location to physically connect or disconnect the
power results in cost savings in both labor and fuel
cost for the utility and it reduces the utility’s carbon
footprint. Remotely (re-)connecting power will still
require a phone call with the customer at the time the
power is switched on to avoid inadvertently turning
on an appliance or device that could be a safety risk
(i.e. the proverbial pizza box left on the stove).
Disconnecting and re-connecting a customer is often
associated with non-payment of the electric bill. The
ability to remotely disconnect a customer does not
exempt the utility from following the regulations
mandated by a public utilities commission for
disconnecting customers for non-payment. Advance
notices are still required before power delivery can be
discontinued. Additionally, in the state of New
Hampshire, customers cannot be disconnected during
the winter months [7].
Utilities are increasingly interested in Pre-Pay
Systems as more and more electric bills go unpaid
[8]. Pre-Pay offers utilities not only another
collections tool but it also provides a mechanism for
customers to conserve energy. The Salt River Project
[9], a utility based in Phoenix, noticed a 12 percent
reduction in electric use among its 55,000 pre-pay
customers. The in-home device of the AMI informs
customers about their energy use as well as their
remaining balance. As customers become more aware
about their electric use they start to conserve. A Pre-
Pay system requires that a remote connect/disconnect
module is installed in the meter.
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2. Smart Meter
The enabling technology in an AMI is the Smart
Meter. The traditional electromechanical meter has
evolved into a solid state digital meter that is capable
of both receiving and sending data. Other features or
functions that are included “under the glass” are
memory modules to store data, error controllers, and
an optional remote connect/disconnect module.
Either a battery or a capacitor is installed to provide
power to the meter while it is not receiving electricity
from the distribution line in case of a power outage.
3. Weighing the benefits of AMI for the New
Hampshire Electric Cooperative
The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative
(NHEC) is a member-owned and controlled electric
distributor serving approximately 83,800 members in
115 towns and cities. Founded in 1940, with the
purpose to bring electricity to rural New Hampshire,
the Cooperative maintains roughly 5,500 miles of
energized lines that go across nine of the ten counties
in New Hampshire. The Cooperative’s headquarters
is located in Plymouth and it has ten operating
districts to serve its members. These districts are
Colebrook, Lisbon, Sunapee, Andover, Plymouth,
Meredith, Conway, Alton, Ossipee, and Raymond.
An elected 11-member Board of Directors runs the
cooperative. The Board appoints a President/CEO
who oversees the Cooperative’s day-to-day
operations. The Cooperative employs approximately
200 employees. In 2007 the energy usage totaled
757,906,090 kWh (specifically 455,197,769 kWh for
residential members and 302,708,321 kWh for
commercial members) with a peak load or demand of
194 MW [10]. Based on the number of members,
NHEC is considered a large electric cooperative.
The Cooperative’s service territory can be
characterized as primarily rural and mountainous
with pockets of residential areas. The topography of
the service territory as well as other characteristics
imposed by the natural environment are important, if
not critical, factors in the process of determining
what AMI technology best fits the cooperative’s
business requirements and budgetary constraints. The
mountainous character of the service territory
impedes communication between endpoints, between
endpoints and sub-stations, and between substations
and the utility’s headquarters, increasing the number
of repeaters, take-out points, and towers that are
needed in a wireless communication scheme. Dense
foliage in many areas is another factor that negatively
affects wireless communication between devices.
The number of customers per mile of power
distribution line is significantly less for cooperatively
organized utilities than for investor or publicly-
owned utilities. Investor and publicly-owned utilities
have, on average, 35 and 47 customers per mile of
distribution line, respectively, whereas cooperatively
organized utilities have on average only seven
customers per mile of power line. The distance
between single meters in some areas exceeds 700
feet. This is significant in that typical wireless
communication between meters does not reach
further than 600 feet, up to a maximum, in ideal
circumstances, 900 feet. Additional repeaters are
needed to carry data from such meters to a take-out
point, adding to the cost of the overall system. More
towers and repeaters imply higher cost. Additional
towers add to the complexity of the implementation
of an AMI in that it involves obtaining and leasing
the necessary antenna space on existing towers or
possibly even building new tower sites.
Automated meter reading is of great benefit to
the NHEC, particularly during the winter months
when adverse weather conditions sometimes make it
impossible for meter readers to go out and read
meters, forcing the utility to estimate electric usage.
Estimated bills often lead to calls from customers
with questions as to why the bill is higher than
expected. An AMI will greatly reduce or even
eliminate the need to estimate electric usage. With
automated meter reading, the utility can expect to see
a drop in calls to the customer support department
related to estimated bills and more accurate billing
will lead to increased customer satisfaction.
Long-term maintenance of the AMI equipment is
a consideration. In a PLC solution, most of the
equipment is installed at sub-stations, concentrating
maintenance to a limited amount of sites. In a Fixed
Wireless Network, the equipment (i.e. repeaters,
collectors, and antennas) are installed throughout the
utility’s service territory. Maintenance can become an
issue especially in winter when snow and icy
conditions can make it difficult to get to equipment,
especially that on towers and mountain tops.
4. Conclusion
AMI projects are extremely complex: not only
technically, but also from a financial, planning, and
organizational point of view. The implementation of
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and AMI touches every aspect of the organization
and requires buy-in from all stakeholders.
The necessary investments to implement an AMI
are significant. This is especially a concern for
cooperatively organized utilities that typically have
far less revenue per mile of line and likely have
higher implementation costs due to the rural
characteristics of their service territories. Under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
[11] utilities might, however, be eligible for grants to
fund at least part of their AMI projects. A total of
$4.5 billion is available for the implementation of a
Smart Grid under the Act. The stimulus program
allows utilities to receive grant moneys for up to 50
percent of their total project cost. Additionally the
Department of Energy increased the maximum grant
for Smart Grid investments to $200 million, from $20
million, allowing larger utilities to also profit from
the stimulus package.
A utility considering the implementation of an
AMI system will need to carefully evaluate what cost
savings can be achieved by implementing the system
in order to offset the long term costs, such as
maintenance, licensing, and depreciation. The
applications that become available with an AMI, such
as load management, demand response, time-based-
pricing, pre-pay, and remote connect/disconnect,
need to be fully utilized to realize the operating
efficiencies and cost savings necessary to justify the
investment in an AMI system. Automated meter
reading will eliminate the need for meter readers but
the reduction in labor cost is less than the annual
operating and depreciation cost of an AMI. The
possible cost savings gained from remotely
connecting or disconnecting power, rather than
sending out a crew to the customer, can easily be
calculated from historical data. For other
applications, the possible cost savings are more
difficult to estimate. Additionally, energy savings
programs and alternative energy programs, along
with some AMI applications, such as time-based
pricing and pre-pay, will encourage customers to
reduce their electricity use, and consequently reduce
a utility’s revenue stream in the short term. In the
long term, a utility may be able to save by not having
to expand capacity or purchase additional power.
All departments and divisions of a utility are
affected by the implementation of an AMI. For
example, reading meters at hourly intervals creates a
total of 720 reads per month per customer versus the
common single monthly read. For some applications
it is suggested to read at 15 minute intervals creating
a total of 2880 reads per month per customer. Even
for a smaller utility, with 100,000 customers, this
translates into several gigabytes of data coming in on
a daily basis. All this data must be processed and
stored, creating additional need for Information
Technology services within the utility in terms of
application support, infrastructure and server
requirements, and maintenance and backup support.
Procedures and processes in departments such as
Customer Service Support and Billing will change.
The process or procedure for disconnecting and
reconnecting a customers’ power related to bill
payment issues or when closing an account will
change if remote connect/disconnect is implemented.
The implications of remotely disconnecting and
connecting power need to be carefully examined and
possible regulatory issues need to also be reviewed
before a new process can be implemented. The
control center of a utility can expect changes in how
outages are reported and will need to review how to
manage outage reporting at the meter level in existing
Outage Management procedures and systems.
All these changes will take time to implement
and need early buy-in from all stakeholders
throughout the utility’s organization. The change
process starts well before the first Smart Meters are
installed.
Once the utility has made the decision to
implement AMI, the choice of which technology to
select remains: Power Line Carrier or Fixed Wireless
Network? The industry has experience with Power
Line Carrier implementations and in rural service
territories this is considered a more reliable option
because all meters can be reached. Most of the
equipment is at the sub-station, making maintenance
easier. However, the fact that Power Line Carrier is
slower than wireless solutions and has less available
bandwidth to carry data should be an important factor
in the decision. There is also the issue whether a
Power Line Carrier system will have enough capacity
and flexibility to meet the needs of future
developments in AMI and Smart Grid technologies.
A Fixed Wireless Network solution provides more
bandwidth and the communication in such a system
is faster than in a Power Line Carrier system, leaving
room for growth.
AMI and Smart Grid applications and
technologies have only just begun to develop. A
Fixed Wireless Network places a considerable
amount of equipment (repeaters, collectors, antennas,
etc.) throughout a utility’s service territory. This is a
critical factor in rural service territories. A utility will
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have to carefully consider the maintenance effort that

is involved to keep all the equipment operational.
Additional staff might be needed, partially negating
the reduction in labor cost of meter readers. In some
cases the decision might be to install a hybrid system:
a combination of a Power Line Carrier and a Fixed
Wireless Network system, using each specific
technology where it best fits the specific service
territory characteristics.
AMI systems or a Smart Grid provide utilities
with exceptional opportunities to operate more
efficiently and cost effectively and improve customer
service. Each utility will have to consider its territory
characteristics, its internal processes, and its
customer base in order to make the appropriate
decisions.

5. References

[1] The Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58.

[2] California Energy Commission, “Value of Distribution

Automation Applications, ” April 2007, CED 500-2007-
028.

[3] Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.,“Advanced

Metering Infrastructure,” April 2007.

[4] Chartwell, Inc., “AMI-Enabled Demand Response,”

Chartwell, Inc., Atlanta, GA, 2007, pp. 5-6.

[5] IEEE Computer Society, (August 31, 2007). IEEE

Standard 802.15.4a-2007

[6] U.S. Department of Energy, “Locke, Chu Announce

Significant Steps in Smart Grid Development,” Press
Release, May 18, 2009.

[7] State of New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission,

“Consumer Rights and Responsibilities,” Concord, NH,
May 1996.

[8] Wall Street Journal, “More Utility Bills Go Unpaid,”

November 3, 2008.

[9] Wall Street Journal, “New Ways to Monitor Your

Energy Use,” June 19, 2007.

[10] www.nhec.com, retrieved June 13, 2009

[11] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of

2009, Public Law 111.5.