How Three Utilities Put Information Technology to Work
The flow of data is vital to the utility business today - as vital as the flow of water, electricity, and natural gas to customers. But when it comes to taking advantage of the latest information technology, the problem for many utilities is how and where to begin.
In Portland, Ore., it began with the teaming of three utilities that have completed a 500-unit demonstration project, the first of several phases leading toward more efficient management of consumption and load data.
Two years ago, the city of Portland Water Bureau faced a significant challenge. Already serving the largest population in the state, the citys growth projections raised serious questions about water conservation and the potential need for major capital expenditures relating to possible river diversion, water storage, and reservoir construction.
For billing purposes, the utility had traditionally relied upon quarterly hand-held meter reads and had more recently experimented with mobile radio automatic meter reading (AMR). However, the data provided by these systems was of limited use for demand management and the Water Bureau was determined to institute a more efficient method of gathering and managing usage data. Toward this end, the utility began to evaluate the technology options that supported AMR, including system designs and vendor options.
According to James Burke, Bureau Economist for the Portland Water Bureau, the idea of a multi-utility approach did not surface until the municipality had done its homework around AMR options and was ready to act. Only then did the water utility approach other utilities in the region. Two investor-owned electrical utilities agreed to participate in the demonstration project: Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power. US West also became involved in the project, providing assistance with the telemetry for the AMR system.
"Our solicitation of the electric utilities focused on an exchange of resources as much as a sharing of costs," Burke said. "We all needed power for the AMR units and the electrical utilities provided it. In exchange, the Water Bureau provided a good share of the system setup costs. In the end, we have all enjoyed a reduction in these costs by jointly participating in the project."
Different Strokes
While all of the utilities involved in the project were motivated by internal and external pressures to adapt more disciplined methods of load data management, decisions around collection frequency, data manipulation, and the final application of the data were left entirely at the discretion of each participating utility.
Different Strokes
From the outset, Portland Water was intent on finding a system that would provide demand data on 15 minute increments, enabling the utility to analyze demand patterns and observe peak demand events.
Different Strokes
Portland General Electric had a pre-existing load analysis system for both residential and non-residential accounts within the metropolitan area; and the project offered PGE the chance to expand its system at nominal cost.
Different Strokes
Pacific Power participated in the project to test and evaluate an alternate system to monitor service interruption and provide automated data collection for customer service and billing purposes.
Different Strokes
"We recognized from the beginning that we were all in this for different reasons," Burke said. "None of us tried to force our agendas on the others."
Tapping into Telemetry
A telemetry-based AMR system was chosen by the water utility for several reasons. From the standpoint of cost conservation, telemetry allowed the utility to take advantage of the existing telephone infrastructure. Telemetry also enabled the utility to be selective in procuring a statistically valid cross-section of Portlands residential population.
Tapping into Telemetry
At the same time, the telemetry-based system that was selected for the project has enabled each utility to receive separate and customized reporting of data. The AMR system provider, Teldata, Inc., demonstrated the ability to report water meter readings only to the Water Bureau, while reporting electricity consumption reports only to the respective electric utility.
Tapping into Telemetry
"Teldatas Meter Interface Unit (MIU) provided each of us with a dedicated port for secure and private data reporting," Burke said. "Equally important, their software is PC-based and non-proprietary. Each utility can process data as it sees fit. And an open system puts no limits on the ways we can process and use our data in the future."
Tapping into Telemetry
Another advantage of the Teldata system, said Burke, is its ability to store data in times of line failure. "Portland winters are challenging, because at least once a year we get ice storms off of the ocean. The ice wreaks havoc with power lines and phone lines. But the meter interface units used on our project are capable of continued data collection at 15-minute intervals and of storing that data in non-volatile memory at the MIU for up to 30 days. So even if there is a power or telephone line failure, upon its repair the affected meter will transmit all of the stored data received since the last dial-in report."
Customer Participation
In Portland, demand management of water focused more intensively on the residential customer base and the initial AMR deployment was made to residential sites only. Analysis of the variance of water usage within this customer group (approximately 140,000 accounts) resulted in a target sample size of 500 participants. With this sample, statistical analysis could be conducted at a confidence level of 95 percent.
Customer Participation
The participating utilities agreed that all coordination of services, contracting and verification of installation be assigned to the Water Bureau. But in retrospect, perhaps the most daunting assignment given to the Water Bureau was participant recruitment.
Customer Participation
To solicit customer participation, the Water Bureau sent an initial mailing to prospects drawn at random from across the single-family residential customer population. The letter described the citys project and what would be involved by participating. Specifically, this meant the customers water meter would be wired to a small plastic box (MIU) outside the house and connected to a telephone line. Residents were assured there would be no cost or interference in their phone service.
Customer Participation
The bureau then made follow-up phone calls to those in the sampling and mailed agreement forms to those interested in participating. For those who returned the completed agreement, a pre-installation inspection further reduced the number of participants - at length resulting in a 7 percent conversion of the original total sampling.
Customer Participation
In retrospect, the water utility might have taken a different approach.
Customer Participation
"We placed a lot of emphasis on minimizing the disturbance to customers, both at the time of installation and during project operations," Burke said. "For this reason, our recruitment effort took longer than we had planned. If I had to do it again, I would make participation a condition of service. We have received so few complaints, and the data we collect directly benefits tax payers in the form of conserved and avoided expenditures."
Project Management
Burke and project management avoided bureaucratic complexity and the overloading of staff schedules by contracting out much of the participant recruitment and installation process to Teldata. The water meters were changed out by the Water Bureau.
Project Management
The practice of regular monthly meetings was started after the first few months, a management technique which was key to the projects success. These meetings included representatives from all three utilities and the system vendor. Progress reports and discussions of impediments helped in the planning and continued implementation of the project. Typical attendance included staff from the analysis sections of the three agencies, representatives from the utilities meter shops, and the vendors on-site manager and field services managers.
Moving Beyond the Meter
Now that phase one of the demonstration project has been completed, the utilities are gathering their data with high expectations around its use.
Moving Beyond the Meter
Conservation: Based on population growth projections, Portland may need to conserve water by about 15 to 18 percent over the next 20 years. With an effective load study program in place, management at the water utility can now begin to estimate aggregate and time of day demand patterns for water.
Moving Beyond the Meter
For example, the bureaus conservation program research indicates willingness among customers to exercise tighter control over seasonal water use if they are provided better information about their actual use patterns.
Moving Beyond the Meter
Capital facilities planning: From a systemwide perspective and a clear knowledge of the relationship between system size and capacity, the water utility now can forecast usage volumes and design water systems that are cost-effective as well as functional. The utility can anticipate needs before they occur and can control the timing of capital investments.
Moving Beyond the Meter
Commercial benefits: In the next phase of the project, the data collection and analysis system is being deployed to 200 of the citys largest commercial customers. The system will enable these high-volume water consumers to measure their outflow as well as their inflow water use. This information will be vital to both the customer and the utility, as the cost for water disposal is three times the cost of water input in Portland.
Moving Beyond the Meter
Residential benefits: In another future phase of the project, the system will deploy to 200 multi-family sites such as apartments and condos. Burke believes a 19 percent to 30 percent savings in water use can be achieved by using submeters at a complex, rather than just one master meter. On one project, the water utility is collaborating with the developer to install submeters for cold water and for hot water. The data is expected to benefit residents because their water and natural gas bills will be based on their own use and not the entire complex. Property managers and condo associations are expected to benefit because they will have access to their water use data.
Moving Beyond the Meter
"Were projecting that more than half of our future population will be served by urban dense water systems," Burke said. "So were conducting experiments right now to compare master metering and submetering. But if a submetering approach can save 19 percent to 30 percent of our future water costs, then it is in our communitys best interest to plan for this alternative approach."
Moving Beyond the Meter
Value-added services: Other potential uses of the data collection system include the monitoring of service outages and water leaks, allowing for prompt service response. While the water utility does not plan to use the system for billing, Pacific Power has been evaluating the system for this purpose.
Conclusions
The project has clearly demonstrated that a multi-utility approach to the deployment of AMR is a practical and cost-effective method of establishing a system for the collection and evaluation of load data.
Conclusions
The data the Water Bureau is now receiving fills a critical gap in the information needed to undertake a thorough and useable demand analysis. The bureau expects the additional information will, over time, improve its capital facilities planning to a degree that could reduce investment in supply, transmission, and distribution capital by several million dollars. Portland General Electric and Pacific Power have enhanced their load analysis data collection at minimal costs and are able to obtain other information about customer usage and service status that were heretofore unavailable to them.
Conclusions
For a free white paper describing the project, contact Sandy Fernstrom, Industry Marketing Manager, Teldata, Inc.; 35 East Wacker Drive; Chicago, IL 60601-2206; Phone 312-857-0880 or FAX 312-857-0881. Ms. Fernstrom can also be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].