Abstract
Definitions and benefits summary
What is an advanced meter? Advanced metering is a generic term
referring to “smart” hardware and software for intelligently
measuring, in detail, the consumption of electricity, gas, or water. What
makes a meter ‘advanced’ or ‘smart’? The three
functions that make a meter smart are:
- 1. The ability to take interval measurements, measuring both what was
consumed and when.
- 2. Automatic transmission of the resulting data, eliminating the need for
manual reading.
- 3. Two-way communications: the ability to both “listen” and
“talk.”
Levels of sophistication categorize meters into several types - from simply
measuring consumption to helping constantly and economically regulate
consumption.
What do advanced meters do better? All meters measure end-user
consumption of electricity and water, but advanced meters do much, much more.
Advanced meters can:
- Accurately measure and control energy usage,
- Implement load control programs with local utilities,
- Monitor power quality,
- Issue emergency or condition alerts,
- Provide maintenance diagnostics and economically integrate multiple
building management systems
Cost-cutting benefits are what drive customers to advanced metering.
Those benefits are realized by both improvements and brand new capabilities
offered by advanced metering - for instance:
- Outage management
- System reliability
- Power quality
- Time-of-use rates
- On-demand reads
- Distribution automation
- Declining total cost of ownership
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