Philadelphia Suburban Plans AMR Installation

Itron Inc. has reached an agreement with Philadelphia Suburban Water Company (PSW) to provide the investor-owned water utility with technology to automate data collection from 260,000 of its water meters in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

PSW officials cited fewer estimated bills, lower operating expenses, and improved customer satisfaction as the primary drivers of their decision to deploy automation technology on a larger scale. When completed, the project will be the largest automatic meter reading (AMR) system deployed by an investor-owned water utility in the country and the third largest water meter automation project in the U.S.

PSW, a subsidiary of Philadelphia Suburban Corporation, serves a total of 1.2 million residents in portions of five counties surrounding Philadelphia. Once the system is deployed, PSW meter readers will use vehicles equipped with on-board Itron computers and radio frequency (RF) transceivers to collect meter data simply by driving past the metered property, eliminating the need for meter readers to access customer properties.

PSW chose Itron, in part, for its record of successful AMR projects.

"Itron has a reputation for stability, innovation, and getting the job done," said Nicholas DeBenedictis, Chairman of Philadelphia Suburban Water Company. "We've had the opportunity to see first hand the success of their AMR system installed on water meters in the City of Philadelphia."

"Itron's AMR system will be greatly beneficial to us and our customers," said PSW President Morrison Coulter. "Eliminating the need to access customers' homes and properties will lead to a less obtrusive meter reading process for our customers."

The AMR system will also enable PSW to transition from quarterly to bi-monthly billing.

"A shorter billing cycle means our customers will be able to keep better track of their water usage and pay a smaller amount on each bill, both of which will be a tremendous help in budgeting and discovering any water leaks on a more timely basis," said Coulter. WW/