I’m in
San Diego, CA, right now, preparing to attend Distributech, a conference and
exhibition focused on automation and control systems, including AMR and AMI for
electric and water utilities. Automatic
meter reading (AMR) involves the automatic collection of data from meters
(water, gas, and electric). Once the data is collected, it is transferred to a
central database for analysis and metering. Of greatest benefit to a water
utility is the possibility of measuring actual consumption, thereby enabling
accurate billing and a more in depth and demand-sensitive resource management.
Advanced
Metering Infrastructure (AMI) takes all this data management one step further.
AMI includes the measurement, collection, and analysis of meter-acquired data,
but the term encompasses not just the hardware, but the data management (MDM)
software and customer interface as well. This could include online access to
water usage and billing, as well as sophisticated demand response
solutions.
I’m
excited to see the newest and most innovative AMR/AMI technology that promises
to be on display in San Diego, and you can rest assured that I'll be passing
along everything I've to learned to you.
In
the meantime, check out some of our past AMR/AMI articles. They run the gamut
from project profiles on one particular success story, to technologically
focused pieces that will give you the basics, to grander articles that fix
AMR/AMI within the bigger picture of water efficiency and resource
management.