Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) was introduced nearly 20 years ago, a major step forward from the previous 20 years of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) that brought efficiency into the meter-to-bill process, a significant event for the times. AMI extended the operational benefits by enabling greater insight and management of devices with two-way communication, but also expanded the customer benefits by improving outage and voltage awareness, increasing the frequency and detail of usage information, and providing tools and programs that enable better decision-making by the customer.
Designing and deploying a resilient AMI technology solution has always been important. Recent significant weather events have validated that maintaining, or recovering quickly, connectivity to network devices and meters can directly enhance the restoration activities, but indirectly the safety and security of the customer. As AMI’s role in Grid Modernization expands, such as in supplementing Distribution Automation, and supporting Distributed Energy Resource and Electric Vehicle Integration, a proactive data analytics program leveraging AMI data may uncover potential vulnerabilities that then drive priorities in system modifications and improvements that enhance the strength and dependability of the AMI system.
As part of this panel, participants will discuss several factors in AMI design, business release scheduling, and performance measurement through analytics; each in support of and resulting in a resilient system solution.
